


Afterglow

by captainmitang



Category: TWICE (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-15
Updated: 2018-09-15
Packaged: 2019-07-10 14:11:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 17
Words: 108,916
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15950993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainmitang/pseuds/captainmitang
Summary: Twice/X-Men AU. After discovering she has the power of hypnosis, Mina is sent off by her parents to a hidden school for the gifted in Korea where she will be safe from anyone attempting to harness her powers as a weapon. There, Mina befriends eight other girls, each with extraordinary powers of their own, that will help her to come to terms with being a mutant, as well as help her learn to control her powers, which can be determintal, even deadly, to those around her.





	1. Leave A Trace

“It’ll be okay,” he said. His familiar face, aged with lines around his eyes and a slightly greying, well groomed beard, loomed above her. He was smiling encouragingly, though, blurred through the tears welling up in her eyes, she could still make out his slight trembling. She could sense his fear as clearly as her own. He could not fool her.

It had been a blessing that they had made it to the clinic safely. The trip there had been a series of rushed goodbyes and sharp turns as her father floored the family car through the streets of Japan. Going to a hospital was out of the question, due to the nature of their complex situation. Luckily with her father being an acclaimed neurosurgeron, he had made quite a large amount of connections in the medical field over the course of his career, which had in turn paid off in this most crucial of moments. He reached out to anyone he knew who could help him help his daughter, whose name and face was currently plastered on every local news station. Finding someone willing to stick their neck out had been the hardest part, but after some pleading and promises, a man by the name of Takahashi had volunteered his clinic for use.

That's where they were now, at Takahashi's clinc outside of Osaka in a small room that smelled mostly of bleach and disinfectant. The room was sterile and cold, and, strapped onto the metal table, the protagonist of our story felt afraid. 

The CT scan was meant to figure out the cause of the abnormality that lied somewhere in her brain. The abnormality which allowed her to do things no person should have the cability to do. Her father had suggested the anthestia, as the process could be quite long and stressful for someone who was clausterphobic. The girl had not been in a good state of mind since early yesterday morning, when the first incident occured, so she had hesistantly agreed to the drug, only because her father would be right there with her as the scan was completed by Takahashi. 

She wanted to say something to her father then, but she was losing feeling in her body, and a numbness had locked her jaw in place. The room was growing darker, as if the overhead lights in the small operating room were starting to dim. She could feel herself sinking into nothingness and it was surprisingly comforting. At last, her dangerous thoughts would be silenced. After a deep sleep, she'd wake up and everything would be okay. They'd figure things out and help her get back to normal. Everything would be better. At least, that’s what her father said. He was lying, of course, but it was easier to believe that he wasn't. It was easier to hold onto the small, child-like hope that this was all a bad dream. I need to wake up, I need to wake up. 

The last thought she had before she went under was of a memory of elementary school. At the playground behind her school, there was a tall green dinosaur connected to the rest of the jungle gym. It loomed above the playground, watching everything with large, yellow eyes. Occasionally, kids would dare each other to climb to the top of the dinosaur's mouth, a place which was strictly off limits, but that made it all the more fun. One day, naturally, she was dared to climb to the top by an annoying boy in her class. She stood at the bottom of the dinosaur, craning her neck to look up at the monster's mouth.

No, she had told the boy firmly. He laughed in her face, calling her a wimp, a scaredy cat, a coward. She listened to his insults, tearing up a bit, but she did not climb the dinosaur. She was too afraid. Bowing her head in shame, her friend pulled her away, sticking her tongue out at the boy who continued to laugh. "Let's see you climb it then," her friend told him. He stopped laughing then, hesitating a bit, but ultimately he began his trek up the dinosaur. 

She watched as the boy made it to the top, pumping his fists and yelling in triumph. The other kids in her class cheered. She couldn't bare to see the sight any longer, so she pulled her friend back towards the school. "Good luck getting down!" her friend called to the boy. A minute later, there was a loud thump, followed by the screams and shouts of children. She turned around to see her classmates crowding around the boy who had just climbed to the top. He was now lying on the woodchips, crying out in pain. His leg was bent at a funny angle. 

Her friend, standing beside her, laughed, and said, "Aren't you glad you didn't do that now?" But some part of her felt guilty that he had fallen and broken his leg. She was the one meant to climb it, to fall if that was her fate, but she had stayed firmly planted on the ground. He might have gotten hurt and been in a wheelchair for a few months afterward, but he had gotten to see the view from up there, standing on top of the dinosaur's mouth. A view she'd never get to see. 

And then she was gone, put under by the anesthetics in her system. 

A lulling voice pulled her out of her unconsciousness. Though the voice appeared to be coming from somewhere close to her, her ears felt plugged, like she was being held underwater. She tried to open her eyes, but they were weighed down by an invisible source. She could only listen. So she did. 

“Don’t you realize what she’s capable of? I know she’s your daughter but just think of the services she could provide for this country. We’d be unstoppable with her.” It was another voice. Familiar sounding at first, it took her a moment to recognize the voice of Takahashi. It was deep, and the tone was laced with a bit of hysteria. The speaker was clearly a bit on edge.

“You’re right, she’s my daughter, and I don’t like you talking about her as if she’s some sort of weapon. She’s just a girl! The government would destroy her. I can’t let that happen. We need to find somewhere else for her, somewhere safe.” That was her father’s voice. Soft, yet commanding. The voice that had originally pulled her from her sleep. She tried to open her mouth to call his name but she couldn’t move.

“There’s rumors of a school in Korea, a place for people like her. She’d be safe there,” the other voice said again. 

There was a pause. “Then that’s where she must go, for her own sake.” Her father sounded heartbroken and yet determined. 

Korea? She could feel her chest tightening. If she went there she’d be leaving behind all her friends. Her childhood home. Her dog. Her brother. Her parents. The thought was almost unbearable. But then, what kind of life would she really have now in Japan? She’d left a wake of destruction behind. Unintentionally, of course, but she did so nonetheless. Intent, in this case, was meaningless. All that mattered was that she had done something terrible and men in black suits with high level clearnance badges had come to take her away. She could feel dampness on her face, running from the corners of her eyes down her cheeks. Tears staining her face with regret and a sense of guilt that would never go away. No, there was no going back to her normal life now. This was the new normal. 

_________________________

(Two Years Later)

There she was, sitting with her back against a birch tree, reading a book. Her jet black hair fell down, covering most of her face. Only her side profile was visible from where Chaeyoung and her friends were sitting at a small picnic table on the lawn of the garden just outside the school. It was a common spot for students to gather during the lunch hours. Now, it was filled with groups of people, and there was a hum of pleasant chatter as they ate. This girl, however, was all alone.

“Ah-ha! There she is, the new girl!” Dahyun, with her long, dark hair accented with colorful blue and green tips, whispered, pointing the girl out to Chaeyoung and Tzuyu, her two best friends respectively. The three girls turned to study the girl sitting against the tree without being totally obvious.

“She’s old,” Tzuyu observed. What Tzuyu meant is that she looked to be a lot older than most new students at JYP’s School were. The average age of a new student was around 12 years, as most people were enrolled soon after they discovered they were mutants. This girl looked to be 18 years, if not older.

“She must have been a late bloomer,” Chaeyoung guessed, squinting her eyes at the girl, as if observing her more closely would unlock all of her secrets. Occasionally a late bloomer was brought into the school, but they were rare to encounter, mostly because so many of them ended up dead. Late bloomers were the most powerful among the mutants, but because of this they were often subject to horrific ends. Self-inflicted sometimes, but most met their end at the hands of others looking to take advantage of their powers. JYP's School was a safe haven for mutants in a world where there was a rising hysteria against powered individuals that some argued posed a threat to the existence of human beings. 

“Well, late bloomer or not, she’s entitled to receive the same welcome treatment as any other new student,” Dahyun smiled at Chaeyoung and raised her eyebrows repeatedly. Chaeyoung smirked back devilishly, revealing her dimple.

“I swear you guys are like 5 years old,” Tzuyu murmured, rolling her eyes. The youngest of the three friends was holding herself with her normal, perfect posture. Her height set her eye level above that other two, so that even sitting down she had to look down upon them. In the afternoon sunlight, her long, purple hair had an almost bluish shine to it. “Why don’t you give the girl a break?”

“Because that’d be no fun. It’s all in good humor, right Chaeng?” Dahyun smiled. Her eyes were squinted up to form half moons.

“Absolutely. It’s harmless.” And with that, Chaeyoung looked around, making sure none of the upperclassmen were around, and stuck out an arm in the direction of the tree the girl was under. “I’m just gonna make her put in a little effort…”

Suddenly the book open on the girl’s lap lifted upward,levitating. As Chaeyoung’s arm rose higher so did the book. The girl’s eyes widened and her lips parted, staring in shock as her book rose higher and higher in a jerky motion. She lifted an arm to grab it but Chaeyoung swung her arm just in time to suspend the book beyond the girl’s reach. “That’s it, that’s it,” Chaeyoung whispered as she continued to stare at the book in concentration. 

The girl stood up and swiped for her book again, looking visibly agitated, but again Chaeyoung reacted quickly enough so that the book rose just out of the girl’s reach. The girl looked up at her book with longing and a bit of irritation, finally giving up on grabbing it, put her hands on her hips, and turned in the direction of the table Chaeyoung, Dahyun and Tzuyu were sitting at.

The girl’s eyes found Chaeyoung’s almost instantly, sending the short haired girl an icy glare. Chaeyoung’s eyes widened in surprise that the girl had spotted her so quickly. She gulped and dropped her arm, appearing to look as innocent as possible, but she knew that it was too late. The girl knew it was her who had been messing with her book. Dropping her arm, the book stayed up in the air for a moment before gravity took control once again and the book fell down...landing right on the irritated girl’s head.

The girl cried out, and Dahyun couldn’t help but laugh, turning away from the scene and covering her mouth with her hand. Chaeyoung sucked in a breath and bit her lip, fighting back laughter as well. She didn’t want to laugh but it was hard to hold back. Actually, she felt awful about the whole ordeal. But the look on the girl’s face when the book hit her head was too funny.

Even Tzuyu snorted but quickly regained her composure and suddenly looked horrified. “Oh my god, you guys are so mean! I bet that hurt!” she hissed.

Chaeyoung didn’t doubt it. The book did appear to be a hard cover. The girl bent over to grab her book, picking it up angrily. Chaeyoung expected another icy glare but instead found the girl was avoiding eye contact with their table all together. Her eyes flickered up towards the table once more and Chaeyoung felt her chest tighten as she saw the girl’s eyes gleaming with tears. She stepped back to pick up her lunch tray off the ground and tucked her book under her arm. She bowed her head, looking at the ground, and quickly rushed back towards the school, making sure to leave a good amount of distance between her and the table the three younger girls were sitting at.

Chaeyoung watched the other girl’s movement with wide eyes. She felt her stomach drop. At this point, Dahyun had stopped laughing and mirrored the same horrified expression Chaeyoung and Tzuyu were making.

“You made her cry!” Dahyun exclaimed when the girl disappeared through the side entrance, back into the school, all heads of the students spread out around the garden turned to watch the new girl leave.

“I didn’t mean to!” Chaeyoung cried. “I swear, I-I didn’t mean to! I didn’t mean to hit her!” Her voice began to waiver. She felt as though someone had kicked her in the gut. The look on the girl’s face was one of the saddest expressions she’d ever seen, and Chaeyoung was to blame. “You encouraged me to do it, this is your fault too,” she turned to Dahyun, pouting at the older girl.

“I didn’t force you to do anything!” Dahyun objected.

“Look what you both did!” Tzuyu scolded. “She probably hates all three of us right now. I guess that’s what I get for sitting with you two nimrods.”

“She looked like a puppy that someone kicked…” Dahyun mumbled in horror, unaffected by Tzuyu’s statements.

“What do I do?” Chaeyoung asked, burying her face in her hands. She had meant for it to be a fun prank, honest! She’d done the good old levitation trick on all the newbies and it was something that everyone laughed about, including the victim of the prank. But that girl had to screw things up by staring Chaeyoung directly in the face. There was so much discontempt there it’d ruined Chaeyoung’s concentration. Chaeyoung was still mastering her powers, after all. She wasn’t expecting the girl to be so…

Chaeyoung heard Dahyun cough loudly and suddenly there was a tap on Chaeyoung’s right shoulder. Chaeyoung timidly uncovered her face and turned her head in that direction to see Park Jihyo, perhaps the most popular student at JYP’s, standing right behind her in all her godly glory. The look on her face was one of complete disappointment. Oh god, Chaeyoung thought. This is how I die.

“Son Chaeyoung.” Oh no, the use of a last name was never good. “What did you do to that poor girl?” Of course Jihyo was referring to the new student that’d run back into the school.

Chaeyoung couldn’t meet the older girl’s stare. Instead she looked down at the food that remained on the table in front of her. “I was just messing around Jihyo, honestly I was just trying to make everyone laugh. I didn’t mean for that book to fall on her head…”

Jihyo sighed and crossed her arms, shaking her head at the three younger girls sitting at the table. “You know you’re not supposed to use your powers outside of class...look what happens when you do. People get hurt.”

“Sorry, Jihyo,” Chaeyoung replied, hanging her head. You truly felt like the world’s biggest jerk.

“Don’t apologize to me, apologize to her,” Jihyo instructed...no, ordered was a better word.

Chaeyoung gulped. The last thing she wanted to do was face that girl again. But, it was the right thing to do. Chaeyoung nodded her head and stood up, grabbing her tray off the table and pushing her chair in. “I’ll go find her. You guys coming?” She looked between Dahyun and Tzuyu.

They both stared at her blankly. “I didn’t finish eating my food yet,” Dahyun sputtered.

“Yeah, same,” Tzuyu pointed to her plate. Wow, lame excuses. It’s true Chaeyoung had been the one who directly caused the book to fall on the girl’s head but...the fact that Dahyun and Tzuyu had been sitting there the whole not actively trying to stop her made them guilty by association. 

Chaeyoung sighed and gave both of her friends a nasty look. “I guess I’ll go alone then. See you guys later.” Chaeyoung quipped, walking back towards the door in the direction the other girl had gone.

“Her name’s Mina, by the way,” Jihyo called out to Chaeyoung, who stopped and turned around. “And she’s not your biggest fan right now.” Jihyo knew this because she knew everything. Literally. She could get emotional reads on people just by looking at them, she might even know what they were thinking if she concentrated hard enough.

She’s not your biggest fan right now. That was probably the understatement of the century.

Chaeyoung hoped that if Jihyo was using her powers that she could she how truly sorry she was for hurting the new girl. Chaeyoung nodded towards Jihyo and trudged toward the school, now determined to make things right.

After wandering the halls for a few minutes, and asking both students and professors alike if they’d seen the new girl pass by, Chaeyoung finally tracked her down in the school’s library. Just from looking at her Chaeyoung had gotten a feeling that she was more of a studious type. Go figure.

Chaeyoung found the girl’s head of black hair bent down at a table tucked behind a row of bookshelves, staring down at the pages of the book that had dropped on her head only minutes earlier. Chaeyoung stood for a moment, watching the girl from a distance. She wasn’t sure why but she felt rooted in place, unable to move her feet in the girl’s direction. One, because she was slightly intimidated by this girl for inexplicable reasons, and two, because she felt very guilty about everything that had just happened.

After gathering up some courage, Chaeyoung marched over and stood by the girl’s table, looking down at her. The girl didn’t seem to notice her presence though, because she continued reading. Chaeyoung pulled a chair from the table out and sat down abruptly next to the girl. This caused the girl to tense up and look up immediately. As soon as she saw it was Chaeyoung she quickly cast her eyes down again, keeping a neutral expression plastered on her face.

Chaeyoung could see that the girl had definitely cried, if only for a minute, based on the fact that her eyes were slightly puffy and red. Congratulations asshole, Chaeyoung thought, you made a girl cry on her first day here. After a moment, Chaeyoung cleared her throat. “Um, so you must be new here?”

The girl blinked and said nothing, eyes remaining downcast.

Chaeyoung paused, but realized the girl wasn’t going to respond, so she continued. “I uh, haven’t seen you around before. JYP’s is a pretty cool place to be. You’ll like it here. Everyone is nice. Well, except me apparently,” Chaeyoung bit her lip, feeling like she just stuck her foot in her mouth. “Yeah. I’m a jerk. A huge jerk.”

The girl didn’t say anything but looked up to stare at Chaeyoung. She remained expressionless. “I’m Chaeyoung, and I specialize in telekinesis, as you saw back there.” Chaeyoung ran a hand through her short hair. “Look, I’m really, really sorry I hit you. I didn’t mean for that to happen. You see, Dahyun and I, that girl I was sitting back there with the blue and green highlights, we like to play jokes on all the new students. It’s just kind of a tradition, like a welcome to the school kind of thing. It’s supposed to be harmless but…” Chaeyoung’s voice trailed off. “I’m so so so soo sorry,” she repeated. “Is your head okay? Because if not I can take you to Miss Suzy. She’s like the school nurse basically, she can heal you. I swear I’ll make it up to you, I’ll do whatever you ask---”

“I’m okay. It’s okay,” the girl cut Chaeyoung off, speaking so softly that Chaeyoung felt inclined to lean forward to hear her more clearly. “Although, it did hurt a bit,” the girl admitted. That was an understatement. It had hurt a lot, but this girl did not want to tell Chaeyoung that. Her voice was pleasant, and surprisingly not angry sounding at all.

She should be pissed off, Chaeyoung thought, she had every right to be! But instead she was only looking back at Chaeyoung with a slight smile on her face and red rimmed eyes. That only made Chaeyoung feel more guilty.

“I’ll take you to Miss Suzy then!” Chaeyoung stood up abruptly, nearly knocking over her chair backward in the process. Chaeyoung looked back awkwardly and side stepped so that she was no longer in front of the chair. “If you want me to, that is,” Chaeyoung added.

The girl looked up at Chaeyoung with a masked expression. “I guess so, thanks,” the girl replied, bookmarking her page with a movie ticket stub and standing up gracefully.

“Her office is in the west wing,” Chaeyoung said, beginning to walk towards the exit of the library. The other girl followed silently behind until she caught up to the younger girl, keeping up with her surprisingly fast pace for having short legs.

The walk towards the office was awkwardly quiet. Chaeyoung felt the urge to fill the silence but didn’t know how.

“So...”

“I’m Mina,” the girl said. “I figured you’d want to know.”

“I know,” Chaeyoung replied quickly, but then cursed herself after seeing Mina’s quizzical stare.

“Uh, I only know that because Jihyo told me.”

“Jihyo...she’s the one with the light brown, wavy hair right? And the...uh,” Mina pointed to her own right eye and Chaeyoung immediately grasped what she meant.

“The different colored eye? Yeah, that’s Jihyo.”

Mina nodded and made a humming sound. “She seems nice.”

“She is. She’s like the nicest person ever. You can always go to her for help with anything.”

They walked in silence for a bit, before Chaeyoung broke it again. “So, um, do you mind me asking what your power is? Or ability, or skill...whatever you’d like to call it.”

“How about a curse?” Mina said, under her breath, just loud enough for Chaeyoung to hear it. The older girl suddenly looked sad. “I believe the technical term is hypnosis,” she said, more loudly.

Chaeyoung’s eyes widened. “Whoa, that’s like...really cool! So you can hypnotize people and make them do anything?”

Mina suddenly looked uncomfortable and Chaeyoung cursed herself for prodding for so much information so soon.

“Yes,” was all the older girl said.

Chaeyoung bit her lip and suddenly wracked her brain for something else to say to change the subject. “Well, we’re almost at Miss Suzy’s office now. The school might seem hard to navigate at first but it’s really not too bad once you’re here for a few days.”

“That’s good to hear.” The girl got quiet again and Chaeyoung inwardly sighed.

Luckily, they made it to Miss Suzy’s office and the door was wide open, revealing the young women tinkering away with some tech laid out on her work table. “Miss Suzy,” Chaeyoung said respectfully, standing in the doorway. Miss Suzy looked up and smiled when she saw Chaeyoung.

“Ah, Chaeyoung, what can I help you with?”

“I, um…” Chaeyoung’s face turned red. How was she supposed to admit that she accidentally hit the new kid over the head with a hardcover book?

“She was just showing me to your office, because I’m a new student,” Mina suddenly said, stepping besides Chaeyoung. “I hit my head pretty hard after tripping down a flight of stairs and Chaeyoung thought it was best for me to seek medical attention.”

Chaeyoung turned her head and looked up at the older girl, gaping. Did Mina just...cover for her?

Miss Suzy smiled brightly at Mina. “Well, you came to the right place! You could say I’m the unofficial nurse here, especially now with all that's been going on recently. Please, have a seat and let me look at your head.” She motioned to a chair in the room.

Mina nodded graciously and sat down.

“What’s your name?” Miss Suzy asked as she stepped over besides Mina, who was now seated in the chair.

“Myoui Mina.”

“Well Mina, welcome to JYP’s. As I’m sure Chaeyoung already mentioned, I’m Suzy.” Suzy then delicately pressed her hand against the top of Mina’s head. At the touch, Mina winced slightly, clasping her hands together tightly in front of her.

“Okay, yeah you could definitely use some juice.” That’s what Suzy called her healing ability. “I’m going to just put my hand here for a second and I’ll make the soreness go away. You might feel a slight tingling sensation but that’s normal.”

Chaeyoung stood in the doorway still, leaning against the door frame. She watched in amazement as Suzy closed her eyes and worked her magic. Mina’s tensed muscles began to relax and Suzy opened her eyes and lifted her hand off the top of Mina’s head. “There we go, does it still ache?”

Mina shook her head. “Thank you so much.” She stood up and bowed slightly. Suzy smiled brightly at her.

“No problem at all. Now, be careful not to trip again.” Suzy gave her a knowing look, as if she knew that wasn’t what actually happened, but even if she guessed Mina was lying she said nothing.

Mina nodded again, taking a step towards the door. “Have a nice day.”

Mina and Chaeyoung stepped back into the hallway.

“Good as new, huh?” Chaeyoung asked.

Mina simply nodded. “Thanks for showing me to her office.”

“It was the least I could do, really.” They walked a few more steps. “Hey, I know the lunch period is over and all but, tomorrow would you like to sit with my friends and I? I know I didn’t make a great first impression but we’re really not that bad. Dahyun can get a little annoying but—”

“Sure,” the older girl answered firmly, smiling slightly. Chaeyoung smiled back brightly.

“Okay, we sit in the same spot in the garden every day, so I’m sure you’ll see us. And since your power is hypnosis and mine is telekinesis I’m sure we’ll be scheduled for some of the same classes. You know?” Chaeyoung held a finger to the side of her head, pointing to her temple. “Our power is up here.”

Mina smiled a small, slightly nervous smile. “Well, I’m off to go meet with JYP, so I’ll see you then.” Mina bowed slightly and started heading off back towards the head master’s office. Chaeyoung waved awkwardly, standing in place for a bit to watch the girl go. After a beat she sighed and turned around, heading back towards the main wing. Lunch was certainly over by now, which meant her history class was about to begin. As she made her way to the classroom, she couldn’t help but notice the strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, making her feel jittery and surprisingly...happy. 

_____________________

“You invited her to sit with us?” Dahyun hissed. She was staring at her shorter friend in the hallway outside of their classroom. Dahyun, wanting all the details of Chaeyoung's apology to the new girl, had pulled her friend aside to hear everything as soon as their class together was over. 

“Yeah, what’s the big deal?” Chaeyoung asked. “It was the least I could do to make up for what happened.”

“She’s...scary,” Dahyun whispered, looking around over both of her shoulders as if Mina would suddenly materialize nearby.

“Oh c'mon,” Chaeyoung scoffed.

“I heard some things throughout the day, rumors…” Dahyun continued. “You know she got her powers late, right?”

“Well yeah, I assumed so…so what?” Chaeyoung asked.

“Because she got them so late she couldn’t control them at all. Before she wound up here she did something really bad. She’s got...some dark past.”

Chaeyoung raised an eyebrow. “How dark could it possibly be?”

“Someone thought she might have killed someone…” Dahyun hissed again. “And you just invited her to sit with us.”

Chaeyoung rolled her eyes. “Oh please, if that was the case she never would have been admitted, right? If there was something off with her then Jihyo would have sensed it and told JYP.” JYP used Jihyo to evaluate every new potential enrollee into the school, since she had a gift for seeing someone's true intentions. No secret was safe from Jihyo, as every student was sat across from her in JYP's office. It was more of a safety precaution, due to recent developments with a growing population of rogue mutants. They'd never actually turned anyone away from the school before. 

Dahyun shrugged, seeming to not take in any logical reasoning Chaeyoung had just said. “Guess it is better to stay on her good side so she doesn’t murder us or anything. Good thinking, Chaengie!” Dahyun playfully ruffled the younger girl's hair, to which Chaeyoung made a face and squirmed away.

After Dahyun laughed, Chaeyoung simply sighed. “She’s nice, you’ll see.”

________________

(The Next Day)

Chaeyoung, Dahyun and Tzuyu sat at their usual table in the garden, unusually quiet. Dahyun wouldn’t drop the “murderer Mina” tirade to which Chaeyoung and Tzuyu rolled their eyes. Chaeyoung was anxious though, for some reason she couldn't put her finger on. They hadn’t invited anyone new to their table in 3 years. It had always been just them, the School Meal Club. They'd had uninvited guests, sure, like Im Nayeon, who would saunter over and lean back against their table, smiling that bunny smile of hers, much to Tzuyu's very obvious annoyance. But, this was the first time that someone would be officially joining them. 

The thought of seeing Mina again brought back that jitteriness from yesterday. The entire rest of the day after her meeting with Mina, Chaeyoung had kept her eye out for the older girl, hoping she'd catch a glimpse of her somewhere. Maybe in the hallways, even the library, but she had no such luck. When she returned to her room after the school day, she'd gotten Nayeon to spill that the girl was living alone in a room across the hall. This morning, she'd done the same, although there'd been no sighting of the girl.

Mina’s face appeared in the courtyard and Chaeyoung raised her arm and waved. Mina spotted them after a moment, with a small smile on her face, and began walking towards the table.

“Try to be on your best behavior, will you?” Chaeyoung pleaded, looking at Dahyun, who mocked offense. “And you…” Chaeyoung turned to Tzuyu, who raised an eyebrow. “Don’t be so…savage.”

Before Tzuyu could protest, Mina was standing before them and hesistantly set down her tray on the table at the only empty spot between Chaeyoung and Dahyun.

“Hey,” she said quietly, smiling again.

“Glad you could make it,” Chaeyoung replied.

“Thanks for inviting me,” Mina answered, sitting down. “I don’t really know anyone here yet.”

“This is Dahyun,” Chaeyoung motioned to her friend, who waved enthusiastically, “and Tzuyu,” who nodded curtly with a small smile on her face.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Mina,” Mina replied, putting on a small smile as well.

“How are you liking the school so far, Mina?” Dahyun asked, leaning forward and resting her chin against her hand.

“It’s nice,” Mina said. "Everyone seems nice.”

Quite the talker, Chaeyoung thought. “Everyone is really nice,” she confirmed.

“So what can you do?” Dahyun asked. “I can duplicate myself,” the girl said, wagging her eyebrows. “I can make like...50 of me if I want. Not that I can show you though, Jihyo would probably kill me for using my powers outside of class.”

“Thank god,” Tzuyu muttered. “One of you is annoying enough.”

Dahyun pouted at Tzuyu, shaking her head. Then she began to fake sniffle, causing Tzuyu to roll her eyes.

"You're only proving my point," Tzuyu muttered.

Mina was smiling slightly at the whole ordeal. When Dahyun stopped she simply whispered “hypnosis” as quietly as possible.

“Wow!” Dahyun cried, faking surprise like she hadn’t heard about Mina’s powers already. “That’s so cool!”

“Not really,” Mina admitted, looking down at her tray of food.

Noticing Mina’s discomfort once again, Chaeyoung cleared her throat. “Tzuyu has super strength,” she announced to Mina.

Tzuyu just shrugged. “Yeah, hulk smash or whatever,” she said in a monotone voice.

Mina looked impressed but said nothing.

“So you just discovered your powers recently?” Chaeyoung asked.

“A few years ago,” Mina stated. Again, she didn’t elaborate. Dahyun looked slightly disappointed but didn’t want to probe her for more information.

“Well, since you’re new here we should probably give you the 411,” Dahyun replied.

“The what?” Tzuyu asked.

Dahyun ignored Tzuyu’s stare and continued. “We'll let you know who's who around here, starting with the table right next to ours. Park Jihyo, the girl with the two different colored eyes?” Dahyun nodded her head in the direction of where Jihyo was currently sitting, munching on some watermelon. “She’s like, the most popular girl here. She’s been here the longest too. Since she was a little kid. Super nice, but strict. If she sees you messing around you might get your ear pulled. Not that she’d do that to you, seeing as you don’t seem to be the type to get yourself in that situation in the first place.”

Mina said nothing and quietly chewed on her ramen, although her face conveyed that she was listening intently.

“She can see into your soul,” Chaeyoung whispered menacingly to Mina. “Literally. And she can also see through things too. She sees all, just like the illuminati.”

Chaeyoung broke out into a grin, causing Dahyun to shake her head and Tzuyu to roll her eyes again. Mina smiled slightly, causing Chaeyoung to look at her in surprise. She wasn't used to anyone reacting positively to her jokes.

“Then there’s Im Nayeon. Another upperclassman who’s been around here for a long time, but not as long as Jihyo. She’s nice but you don’t want to get on her bad side.” Dahyun nodded her head in the direction of a girl sitting next to Jihyo with long, strawberry colored hair. She appeared to be filing her nails and looked relatively bored.

“She can rewind time,” Chaeyoung whispered. “But that’s it. She can’t go forward or freeze it or anything. Yoo Jeongyeon can freeze time though.” Chaeyoung motioned to the girl with short blonde hair sitting on the other side of Jihyo. “Jeong and I go way back,” Chaeyoung said, smiling.

“We call them the no jam bros,” Tzuyu explained to Mina, who was continuing to nibble on her ramen, “because they’re the two most unfunny people you will ever meet.”

“Hey!” Chaeyoung protested. Tzuyu just smiled smuggly.

“Then there’s Minatozaki Sana,” Dahyun said. “The girl with the blonde hair sitting across from Jihyo. She’s really funny and sweet and--”

“Alright we get it, you have a major crush on her,” Chaeyoung groaned. Dahyun’s smile faded away and she shook her head profusely.

“Stop saying that!” she whined.

Mina covered her mouth as she broke out into a smile, causing Dahyun to look even more flustered and embarrassed. 

“Sana is nice but she can be kind of an airhead,” Tzuyu shrugged. “A match made in heaven for Dahyun, really.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Dahyun crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue. “She can turn invisible…”

“...although she’s not great at it yet.”

“...but she’s improving,” Dahyun continued, looking at Tzuyu with daggers in her eyes. "Like all of us." 

“And then there’s Momo, the girl with the light brown hair. She can run super fast," Chaeyoung added. 

“Like 107mph fast,” Tzuyu inputed. Dahyun and Chaeyoung turned to her, looking surprised. “What? I remembered the last time in class when the professor measured her speed with a radar gun.”

“Her and Sana are like this,” Chaeyoung crossed her fingers together, holding them out in front of her. "They lived together for years, just the two of them, in Japan, before they moved to Korea." 

Mina perked up at that. "They're from Japan?" she asked, looking slightly surprised. "I am too."

Everyone else at the table looked slightly surprised as well. "Really?" Tzuyu asked. "Your Korean is great, how long ago did you move?"

"About two years ago," Mina replied, suddenly wishing she hadn't spoken up. Again, she said nothing else and looked slightly embarrassed. Anxiously, she began rubbing her neck, flicking some hair off her shoulder, and Chaeyoung caught a glimpse of something metal sitting right behind the girl's right ear. 

"What's going on over here?" Chaeyoung heard the sound of an all-too-familiar trill and internally groaned. Sure enough, Im Nayeon had gotten up and was walking their way. She stood beside the School Meal Club's table, crossing her arms and smiling sweetly at everyone. Finally her gaze landed on Mina, surely the real reason she had decided to come over, and she smiled even larger, revealing her bunny teeth. "You decided to eat with these losers, huh?" Nayeon laughed.

Chaeyoung and Dahyun yelled in protest while Tzuyu said nothing and sent silent daggers at Nayeon. "Hey, at least we invited her to eat with us!" Dahyun whined.

"We did too," Nayeon replied. "Well, Jihyo did anyway. Looks like she thought you guys were more fun." 

Mina opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by Chaeyoung. "Looks like she has good judgement then!" 

Nayeon simply stuck out her tongue. Again, Mina opened her mouth to respond but was cut short by Nayeon deciding to sit down next to her, totally throwing away the concept of personal space as the small bench barely had enough room for two people on each side. As Nayeon's knees pressed against her own, Mina quickly slide over to make more room for the older girl, cheeks reddening in surprise and embarrassment. She was nearly falling off the bench now.

"I don't think we've officially met," Nayeon chirped, leaning towards Mina. "I'm Nayeon." She smiled again at Mina and Mina tried her best to smile back.

"She knows who you are," Dahyun interjected. "We were just giving her the 411."

"The what?"

Tzuyu rolled her eyes and leaned forward, trying to steer this trainwreck of a conversation away from total cringeworthyness. "Mina, what's your schedule like?"

All eyes turned to Mina. "I'm meeting with JYP after this, I don't officially start classes until next week," Mina replied. "He just wants me to familiarize myself with the school."

Chaeyoung thought it was a bit strange that it'd take Mina so long to jump into things. Chaeyoung herself had only had a day to move in before she was expected to start attending classes. Yet another curious thing about Mina.

There was a brief moment of silence before Nayeon sprang up, startling Mina in the process. "Well, you guys are boring. I'm gonna take Mina here and go back to the cool table. Catch you all later."

Before Mina could even react Nayeon hooked an arm through hers and pulled her up onto her feet. "Uh––" Mina barely had time to grab her bowl of ramen before Nayeon began to pull her in the direction of her table. Mina looked back at Chaeyoung with wide eyes, her expression reading something along the lines of "help me", before she was sat down between Jihyo and Nayeon. 

"Poor girl," Dahyun muttered. 

"See, I told you she's not scary," Chaeyoung replied.

"I'm still not convinced she's not a murderer," Dahyun whispered, staring at Mina's back intently. She artfully tossed a grape into her mouth without taking her eyes of Mina. "You know what they say about the quiet ones..." 

"Oh shut up," Chaeyoung grumbled, but couldn't help but smile. 

Even though Chaeyoung was 99% sure Mina wasn't a murderer, she couldn't help but feel like Dahyun's revelation about the older girl having a dark past wasn't entirely unbelievable. There was just something about the way she avoided certain topics. The atmosphere that seemed to follow the girl was one of sadness, not darkness, however. Perhaps she'd done something that she regretted very much. Well, Chaeyoung thought, she's in good company then. 

"Chaeyoung, hello, anyone home?" Dahyun reached over and began to literally knock on the younger girl's head.

Chaeyoung flinched and crossed her arms. "Hey!" she whined, pushing Dahyun's fist away. "What was that for?"

"Did you not just hear what Jihyo just announced?" Tzuyu asked, looking at Chaeyoung with a bit of concern. Chaeyoung blinked and she suddenly noticed that everyone around them was standing up and heading back towards the school. "There's been another incident."


	2. Bury It

Another incident. Tzuyu was putting it lightly. Incident sounded more tolerable than murder. More stomachable. Less terrifying.

Over the past year, a series of murders throughout South Korea and other parts of the world were taking place. These murders had very specific targets: mutants.

“Another murder?” Chaeyoung whispered with shining eyes. She reached for Tzuyu’s hand and grasped it in her own, needing some comfort. “Who’s responsible?”

“We all know,” Dahyun replied, face looking grim. Her neck was strained to hear Jihyo, who was standing at the center of the garden, now surrounded by other students nearby.

“It was the HCA again,” Jihyo announced. “They just claimed responsibility for the crime.” Jihyo was looking down at her phone, which was set to update with alerts on any possible crimes involving mutants. “On social media they wrote, 'we will rid the world of mutants, humanity shall prevail.'"

“I hate the word mutant,” Sana whined. “It makes us sound like we’re not even human. Like...we’re monsters.”

“We are mutated, in our genes, but that doesn’t make us any less human,” Nayeon responded, rubbing Sana’s back lightly. “I don’t mind the word mutant, because that’s what we are. That isn’t a bad thing. We’re just different, that’s all.”

“I guess,” Sana nodded, looking thoughtfully at Nayeon.

“When are we gonna do something?” a boy with a head of blonde hair and round glasses asked. “Are we just going to sit here and continue to let this happen?”

“What can we really do?” Jeongyeon replied. “If we do stop them, we’ll be labeled as the terrorists, and not the other way around. If we fight back we’re not the victims anymore. The world doesn’t need any more reasons to fear us.”

At that, the boy huffed and said nothing. What could he say? Jeongyeon was right. A wave of paranoia had begun to arise with the growing number of mutants in the human population. Out of that fear rose the HCA, the Human Coalition Association. It was a group dedicated to preserving humanity's dominance, as they considered anyone with special abilities to be another, threatening, species. Recently, they’d resorted to killing as many mutants as they could, which made JYP's school a sanctuary for mutant kind. Any mutant unlucky enough to be on their own could be another victim if their powers were discovered. There was even a movement within the government to force all mutants to identify themselves and be put on a watch list of sorts.

“We do as we’re told, like always. We’re safe here,” Jihyo assured.

“For how long though?” a younger girl with long black hair asked. “How long before they find us here?”

Jihyo bit her lip and hesitated. “We have each other, right? We’re stronger together than out there on our own. As long as JYP has a deal with the government then we’re fine.”

For awhile, before JYP’s school was even a school, the building stood as a small sanctuary for mutants, hidden from the rest of society. However, secrets cannot remain buried forever, and the building’s existence was discovered. Home to a large number of mutants, the school certainly posed a threat. However, the government feared take over by the mutant race enough to strike a deal with JYP rather than attempt to dismantle what he had built up entirely. Mutants living there were to keep to themselves and not meddle in affairs involving humans. In return, they’d be left alone there.

JYP still helped to train young mutants, but only for times of self-defense or crisis. Sometimes teams were sent to deal with rogue mutants terrorizing humans, but these circumstances were rare.

After everyone had calmed down a bit, Mina had managed to sneak away from Nayeon and appeared at Chaeyoung’s side once again. “Never a dull moment here,” Chaeyoung joked, smiling comfortingly up at Mina, who looked oddly distraught.

“I hate just sitting around doing nothing,” Tzuyu sighed, releasing Chaeyoung’s hand. “I want to be out there, stopping them.”

“I do too,” Dahyun confessed. “But Jeongyeon is right, the world isn’t ready for people like us yet. It will be, one day, hopefully soon.”

“That’s wishful thinking,” Chaeyoung said. “I have a feeling people will always be afraid though. Different will always be scary.”

“Lunch is almost over, I think,” Tzuyu muttered, checking her phone. “Yep, we should head to history.”

“What are your plans for today?” Chaeyoung asked Mina, who was staring absentmindedly at a crowd of students gathered by the door leading back into the school.

“I’m meeting with JYP again.” Again. It seemed that Mina was meeting with him an awful lot. Chaeyoung wanted to ask more, but held back. She barely knew Mina, really, and didn’t want to pester her yet with personal questions. She was sure whatever Mina was doing there it was important. “I should head there.”

“Lunch again tomorrow?” Chaeyoung asked, eyes shining with expectation.

Mina smiled slightly but then furrowed her brow, guilt reflected over her features like a mask. “Actually, um, I might sit with Nayeon tomorrow. She asked me…”

Chaeyoung couldn’t hide the disappointment on her face.

Mina’s eyes widened at the shorter girl’s sudden expression and her stomach twisted. “But how about the day after tomorrow?”

Chaeyoung’s spirits immediately lifted. “Sure!”

The two girls smiled at each other and Dahyun glanced at Tzuyu with an unreadable expression on her face.

“Thanks for letting me join you all today,” Mina replied, smiling at the other two members of the School Meal Club.

“It was nice to meet you, Mina,” Dahyun smiled back politely. She truly meant it though. The girl wasn’t quite as scary as expected, but there was something off about her that Dahyun couldn’t quite put her finger on yet.

“Nice to meet you too,” Mina bowed slightly, waved, and disappeared inside the building, following the crowd of other disbanding students.

“She’s nice,” Tzuyu commented, watching her go.

Chaeyoung simply nodded, watching the older girl go as well. With no backpack on, she stood out among the crowd of students. 

_____________

The rest of the week went by with the buzz of the murder on everyone’s lips and minds. Pictures of the mutant killed in what was labeled a “hate crime” surfaced on the internet. The victim was a young man, probably only a few years older than Chaeyoung. He wasn’t lucky enough to have stumbled upon JYP’s school. For this reason, Chaeyoung couldn’t help but feel somewhat guilty. And she thought of Mina, of all people, having just found the school. What was her life like prior to her enrollment here? Was she out there on her own? Did she have a family that supported her or one the shunned her like Nayeon’s had? All Chaeyoung knew was that she was happy that Mina was here, and that it wasn’t her picture plastered on every news outlet.

Mina quickly fit into Jihyo’s inner circle of friends, sharing words in Japanese with Sana and Momo, who found delight in speaking with another foreigner who spoke the same language. Jeongyeon found that Mina laughed at all her terrible jokes, much to Nayeon’s horror, and immediately took a liking to her. As for Jihyo, the older girl seemed to take quite an interest in Mina, taking the time to show her every corner of the school.

Dahyun still looked at Mina a bit suspiciously as the days past, but gave up on mentioning the girl's "dark past" when she was alone with Chaeyoung after the continous scolding she received from the shorter girl. Even though she'd only known her for a few days, Chaeyoung just didn't believe Mina was capable of harming anyone, even if Mina did have a bit of an unintentionally scary glare sometimes. Tzuyu loved the fact that Mina was so quiet. She actually found comfort in the older girl's silence. It was a nice change from the loud, somewhat obnoxious, behavior of her other friends. 

Because she fit in so well and so quickly, it was only a matter of time before Jihyo came up with the idea of throwing Mina a bit of a welcome party. It was hosted in the room Jihyo shared with Nayeon and Jeongyeon, the normal hang-out spot of the group of friends. Saturday night, everyone gathered for some snacks and board games, squished in a circle on the floor of the dorm room. Mina watched everyone's antics with a sense of happiness she hadn’t felt in nearly two years. It made her ache for her family, and the times she gathered with friends at home. It felt like a lifetime ago. 

"So, how do your powers work, anyway?" Jeongyeon asked Mina curiously. They had just finished a game of Clue. Since the game was only made for six players, Momo and Nayeon played as a team (which meant they argued over who got to roll the dice and loudly whispered to each other which room they should go to next), along with Sana and Dahyun (who were completely terrible, mostly because they paid zero attention to the actual game itself and ended up guessing totally irrelevant murder weapons and suspects). Jihyo sat the game out, as she so often graciously did when there were too many people to play, and instead gave funny commentary the whole time. Mina won, barely outrolling Tzuyu to make it to the center to make her final guess. Tzuyu, who had won the game the past few times they'd played the game as a group, was not amused. 

"Well, I just have to think of something and I can make someone do it. I can also make people believe something is true when it's not. Or, trick them into seeing something that's not really there. Depending on what it is, they might have to fall asleep first, but that's only when what I'm trying to make them do is more involved."

"Damn," Nayeon pressed her lips together and looked impressed. "What if you made someone do something on accident...like I know I'd be lying if I said I hadn't had...malicious thoughts...for other people."

"No, really?" Momo replied, and Nayeon gave her a playful shove. 

"But seriously," Nayeon continued. "Do you really just not think anything negative thoughts? Because if so, you're an angel." 

In response, Mina reached her right hand behind her right ear, snaking her fingers beneath her hair. After a moment, she pulled something metal out from beneath her hair, something that was hidden underneath it this whole time.

“What is that?” Chaeyoung asked, eyes wide. So she hadn’t been seeing things the other day when something metal glinted as Mina brushed her hair behind her shoulder.

“It prevents me from using my powers, like a mental block. It stops anything like that from happening," Mina explained, looking at Nayeon. Before Chaeyoung could get a good look at the thing, Mina quickly put it back behind her ear. Chaeyoung sat back, slightly disappointed.

“Mina, can we see your powers in action?” Jeongyeon asked.

Mina shrunk back into herself lightly, smiling apologetically. “Uh...”

“Could you...make Dahyun think she was a chicken or something?” Nayeon replied, smiling mischievously.

“Hey!” Dahyun whined, putting her hands on her hips. Sana leaned into the younger girl and smiled up at her.

Jihyo, who had been silent up until this point, regarded Mina curiously. “One trick wouldn’t hurt,” she supposed.

“I don’t know…” Mina replied, looking down at her hands folded neatly in her lap.

“Make Momo think she’s a dog!” Nayeon yelled, to which Momo smacked Nayeon lightly. "What, you love dogs, don't you?" 

“I don’t like—” Mina began.

“Guys, Mina doesn’t have to do anything she’s not comfortable with,” Chaeyoung replied, and Mina looked across the circle at her with a thankful expression.

“No peer pressure allowed here,” Jihyo confirmed, patting Mina on the back with one of her sweater paws lightly.

Dahyun and Sana sighed in unison.

“I don’t like using my powers,” Mina explained apologetically.

“You don’t have to explain yourself,” Jeongyeon assured.

Mina shrugged. “It’s just, I used them a lot in the past and I hated it.”

Momo nodded her head sympathetically. “Sana and I had to do that too, we understand." 

Sana nodded in agreement and then giggled to herself. “We were the ultimate street duo. We even had a magician’s act and everything when we were kids.”

“The amazing, disappearing woman,” Momo cupped her hands around her mouth and announced in a melodic voice. Sana bounced onto her feet and bowed to her friends. She looked at Dahyun and winked, then she snapped her fingers and vanished into thin air.

“Oooooooo, ahhhhhhhh,” Dahyun called, clapping enthusiastically. Momo joined in as well. Tzuyu simply rolled her eyes.

“Whereeeee diddd she goooooo?” Jeongyeon asked in a spooky, drawn out voice. “It’s a mystery!” 

Tzuyu rolled her eyes again and Mina laughed. Nayeon made a look of disbelief in Mina's direction. The girl really did laugh at anything Jeongyeon did, much to Nayeon's dismay. 

Suddenly Dahyun was being pushed onto her feet by an invisible force and then she was lifted into the air, appearing to levitate.

“Wowwwwww!” Chaeyoung cried ironically, smiling in amusement like she hadn’t already seen this act a dozen times. But it was Mina’s first time, and the older girl's eyes were sparking. Chaeyoung's grin grew wider as she noticed Mina’s gummy smile, which was so contrasting to the girl's usual, serious demeanor. It was endearing. 

There was a small sneeze, delicate and soft, and Sana rippled into view once again, revealed to be holding Dahyun around the waist and lifting her up. Everyone laughed, genuinely. Sana was getting better at controlling her powers, but she definitely needed a lot of work to do. Embarrassed, Sana collapsed onto the floor and hid her face in her hands. Momo grabbed her shoulders and shook her forward and backward gently as she whined.

“Don’t be embarrassed,” Dahyun replied, eyes turned up into half moons as she uncovered Sana’s face. “It was cute.”

_________________________

Mina’s first few days of classes were going smoothly. Because she had left abruptly during her senior year, she was taking some classes with students a few years younger than her. Luckily there were some familiar faces among them; Tzuyu and Chaeyoung. Mina gravitated toward them without thinking. She wasn’t good at talking to strangers and was even worse at making friends, so sticking near them felt like the right thing to do.

Normal classes went well—history, economics, Korean and English—but then came the last class of the day, the one Mina had been dreading since the start. It was simply titled "Abilities" on her schedule. Talking to Chaeyoung, she gathered it was focused solely on strengthening their powers. “For self defense,” JYP had explained to Mina in his office. He knew how uncomfortable Mina had been using her powers at all. “You can attend but you don’t have to use your powers, not until you’re ready. But, exercising them will only help you control them more. You won’t have to be so afraid once you’ve mastered them.”

It sounded completely logical, and yet, the thought of using her powers on her classmates terrified her. It was just that she didn’t trust herself. One misthought and things could backfire completely. She’d already felt bad about saying no to Jeongyeon when asked to show her powers over the weekend. She didn’t want to be a coward—she hated it actually—but previous events rendered her so guilty that being labeled as such wouldn’t stop her from sitting this one out.

Like all classes she went to, she was promptly picked out by her teacher, a man by the name of Nichkhun this time around, and asked to introduce yourself. Everyone simply wanted to know her name and power and that was it. Students would "ooh" when they heard her say hypnosis, and Mina always felt like sinking into the floor, avoiding eye contact of any kind. She hated being the center of attention. Now, she was standing besides Chaeyoung, who gave her a smile of encouragement when she spoke, and it didn't feel quite as awkward.

Luckily Chaeyoung was in her class due to the similiar nature of their powers; both being mental based. Other classmates who had graduated beyond high school had more classes dedicated to improving their powers in their schedules than high school level students, so Nayeon, Jeongyeon and Jihyo were in more advanced classes, despite having similar powers.

The class went as such: students were to individually face a large robot programmed to attack in different ways in order to demonstrate their abilities. Afterward, students would work together to face the robot set to a more difficult combat level. While the robot acted as the standard target for their practice, Mina was unable to reprogram the mind of a robot, as her power could only affect other human minds and nothing more. Because of this, Nichkhun suggested Mina pair up with another student and try her best to disarm them while they used their powers to fight back. Chaeyoung graciously volunteered to be Mina’s partner, however the older girl quickly shook her head, terrified that the marked target of her powers would be Chaeyoung.

“I can’t—” Mina began, staring at Chaeyoung with wavering eyes.

Chaeyoung insisted though. “Mina, it’s okay. You won’t hurt me, not with everyone watching.”

But Mina continued to shake her head, backing away from the center of the room, flashes of her past dancing around her vision. Nichkhun, seeing Mina moving away, came over toward her.

“What seems to be the problem?”

“I don’t like to use my powers,” Mina began. “In the past I’ve…”

“The past is the past. This will help you so you are able to live outside these school walls normally. Only practice will improve your control.”

Mina nodded, lip trembling. “I know, it’s just...could I only observe for today? Maybe in the future I’ll---”

“You need to get over this fear!” Nichkhun’s voice rose and now everyone else in the class was staring. “You’re perfectly safe here,” he said, voice more soft this time.

Mina bit her lip and stared at the floor. What was she supposed to say? He was right.

“Now, start with a simple thought—”

“That’s enough, Nichkhun.”

Everyone turned at the sound of a familiar voice coming from the doorway. JYP has entered the room soundlessly and was watching intently with his arms crossed.

“Mina, you’re fine to watch until you’re ready,” JYP continued, and Mina nodded graciously, sighing with relief.

“Thank you,” she whispered softly and bowed slightly before him.

Nichkhun simply shook his head but didn’t argue. He knew better than to start something with JYP. Although the man was incredibly kind, it was best not to get on his bad side.

Mina stepped back and simply watched as the other students faced the robot. Much to her surprise, during Chaeyoung's turn, the small girl was able to lift the robot entirely off the ground with her mind, throwing the thing across the room and into a wall with only so much as a wave of her hand. As it tried to stand up, she would simply force it back against the wall with a great amount of force. It was clear the effort took a lot out of her though, as beads of sweat were forming on the girl's head and she was breathing quite heavily despite barely moving herself. Nichkhun clapped as the robot abruptly turned off, signaling that the battle was won, and some other students followed suit, cheering. "You're improving, Chaeyoung," the teacher said, patting her lightly on the back. All of her practice of lifting heavier and heavier masses was paying off. 

After class was over, JYP nodded to Mina to have her come with him. Chaeyoung gave her a supportive look, wanting to say something to the older girl that still looked slightly shaken, but couldn’t get a word out before the older girl was gone.

(Later That Night)

There was a light knock on the door, so quiet that Mina almost didn’t hear it. But there it was, underneath the music she was listening to, which had been lulling her to sleep. Mina hesitantly got up and opened the door a crack, peering out into the hallway.

“Um, hey.” It was Chaeyoung in her pajamas, looking as tiny as ever. She was wearing circular framed glasses, fuzzy socks and boxer shorts. “I hope I didn’t wake you.”

“No,” Mina assured, small smile falling onto her lips, as was habit whenever she saw Chaeyoung. “I was just getting ready for bed.”

They stood their for a moment like that in silence before Mina cleared her throat. “What can I help you with?” she asked.

“Oh! Right,” Chaeyoung started, smiling sheepishly. “It’s just, I wanted to see how you were doing. Earlier in class…” her voice trailed off as she conjured up images of their abilities class from her memory.

“I’m alright, thank you,” Mina replied, looking at the younger girl thoughtfully. “Just a bit embarrassed is all.”

Chaeyoung laughed awkwardly. “Uh, yeah I figured.” There was a pause.

“Why don’t you come in,” Mina said, opening her door more widely. Chaeyoung looked relieved and nodded thankfully. As Chaeyoung entered the room, Mina closed the door behind her. Chaeyoung could feel her heart beating faster, realizing this was the first time she was truly alone with Mina. For some reason the thought excited and terrified her.

Mina sat on her bed, unbeknownst to Chaeyoung’s nervousness. She patted the bed beside her, inviting Chaeyoung to sit down. The room was rather small, and despite the computer chair there was no other seating arrangement other than her bed.

Chaeyoung sat down, making sure to put a comfortable distance between them. Mina regarded her curiously. The knock on the door had certainly taken her off guard. She wasn't expecting to see Chaeyoung peering up at her when she opened her door. 

“You’re kind of a mystery to me,” Chaeyoung began, biting her lip. “With you being a new student and all. It’s just, most students come here when they’re in middle school...so you’re…” she fumbled with her words.

“Different?” Mina suggested. Chaeyoung nodded.

“I just...want to get to know you better. I want to understand you better.” She was speaking bluntly, but couldn’t help herself. She was such a curious person. 

“There’s not much to know about me,” Mina started.

“Sorry, I know that sounded weird. I just thought...we should be friends.”

“I thought we already are,” Mina replied innocently, but then smiled. She was teasing.

Chaeyoung smiled, fidgeting with her own hands. “Without the others around, I mean. Everyone can be...loud.”

Mina nodded in understanding. “Well, like I mentioned before, I came from Japan. It’s where I grew up. My father was….is a neurosurgeon and my mother is a professor.”

“Why did you decide to come to Korea?”

“My father was told about this place...a school where I could be with other kids like me, so he sent me here.”

“But you said you were in Korea for two years before coming here, right?” Chaeyoung asked.

Mina licked her lip, thinking about her next words carefully. “Yes, that’s true. I wasn’t able to locate the school right away. There were some complications.”

Chaeyoung wanted to know more but she figured she'd change the subject. “I came here when I was thirteen. My parents brought me. They thought it was best for me, and it was, thankfully.” She figured she owed it to Mina to talk about herself a bit. Mina shouldn’t be the only one sharing. “It was around the same time Tzuyu, Dahyun, Momo and Sana arrived. We all got used to the place together.”

“That must have been nice,” Mina commented.

“It was, I mean I’m lucky to have found this place. Everyone here makes me feel normal, you know? I felt like such a freak before, when mutants weren’t exactly mainstream news.”

Mina nodded. “I...felt the same way. I’m really glad I’ve finally found this place.”

“Do you keep in touch with your family?” Chaeyoung asked.

Mina was silent for a moment, pressing her lips together. “No, I haven’t spoken to them since I’ve come to Korea.” She was silent again, and Chaeyoung thought the girl was done speaking on that topic but to her surprise Mina opened her mouth again. “It was too dangerous for me to reach out, but I like to think they’re all fine. I hope they know I am too.”

“I’m sure they do," Chaeyoung said, but really she wasn’t so sure. The more she found out about Mina, the more confused she was.

“I’m grateful for your friends, they’ve made my transition here easy,” Mina abruptly changed the subject. “It’s been a few years since I was in school, so I was afraid it’d be difficult for me.”

“They’re a good group. Weird, but good. You know, I still feel bad about the first day we met.”

Mina looked away and smiled. “Yeah, it was under rather unfortunate circumstances.”

“Do you read a lot?”

“I used to, and I figured a book would be nice to get me through a quiet lunch break.”

There was another lull in the conversation, and Chaeyoung couldn’t help but smile at Mina. She smiled back, a bit nervously. “Why are you smiling at me?” she asked.

Chaeyoung shook her head but continued to smile. “I don’t really know, I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Mina nodded, accepting that answer, as vague as it was. Mina studied the younger girl’s face as the girl turned away to glance around at Mina’s room. There wasn’t much to look at but she was looking anyway. Mina had left all of her personal belongings behind back in Japan. She did have a picture of her with her family though, and a stuffed animal penguin her best friend from her old school had gotten her. She didn't have the heart to leave it behind and she'd managed to hold onto it all this time.

It suddenly hit Mina how nice it was that Chaeyoung had reached out to her, and that she was here, albeit interfering with her sleep schedule, but she enjoyed Chaeyoung's presence very much nonetheless. She liked the way Chaeyoung looked at her. It made her feel like she belonged. Wouldn't it be nice if they were even closer?

Chaeyoung’s lips were suddenly pressed against Mina’s. They were soft and warm, and Mina felt like she was slipping, all doubts and worries disappearing. Closer, yes, this was it.

Then Mina's eyes flashed open and she jumped back against the wall, breaking their brief entanglement, with a look of complete horror on her face. Chaeyoung’s eyes opened as well and she nearly stumbled forward, losing the support the other girl had presented seconds earlier. They looked at each other, Chaeyoung with a look of surprise and Mina with a look of fear.

“I’m so sorry!” Chaeyoung cried, cheeks reddening. “I don’t know what came over me, I—I…”

Mina covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head. She immediately sprang up off her bed, grabbing the metal chip sitting on her desk, and stuck it in place behind her right ear. Chaeyoung had not moved an inch, but simply sat in shame, watching silently.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Mina explained, unable to make eye contact with the younger girl as she spoke. “I took off my chip. It’s uncomfortable for me to wear it when I sleep…” her voice trailed off and she looked up, searching Chaeyoung’s face for a reaction.

The younger girl remained looking quite alarmed. Her face was flushed and her eyes were wide. “So you...you hypnotized me?” she asked, finally.

“Not on purpose,” Mina replied quietly, eyes cast downward again. “It was an accident. Sometimes when I'm not wearing it my thoughts are strong enough to...” her voice trailed off. She lowered her head and some of her hair fell over her eyes, acting like a barrier between the two girls. She could hide behind it. 

Chaeyoung swallowed loudly and opened her mouth. She closed it before she could say anything, as if debating on what to say, then opened it again after some thought. Suddenly she blurted out: “So you wanted me to kiss you?”

Mina bit her bottom lip. She really wished she could have Sana’s power right about now and disappear. Or, better yet, Nayeon's, so she could go back in time and stop this from ever happening. Chaeyoung noticed the other girl’s embarrassment and instantly regretted asking that. “It’s okay, it doesn’t matter,” she declared.

“I won’t make that mistake again,” Mina whispered. “I’m so sorry.” Behind her veil of black hair, Chaeyoung could tell Mina was embarrassed beyond belief. She wanted to say something to help lighten the mood but she felt helpless. Even though she was a bit shocked and embarrassed too, she couldn’t say she was angry. The feelings she had for the older girl were complicated to say the least, despite only knowing her for a little over a week. All she knew is that it’d felt right in that moment, before Mina had jumped back and the cloudiness engulfing her mind faded away.

“It’s okay,” Chaeyoung assured Mina, giving her a small smile. “Really, don’t sweat it.” Chaeyoung internally winced at the phrase that came from her lips but continued smiling regardless.

Chaeyoung slowly got off the bed. They stood there for a moment, awkwardly, with Mina leaning against the side of her mattress and Chaeyoung a few feet away, fiddling with the zipper on her sweatshirt. “Well,” Chaeyoung said at the same time as Mina said “Uh—”.

Chaeyoung couldn’t help but laugh, a product of her nervousness. “I should get going, it’s late…”

“Yeah,” Mina agreed, looking down at her fingernails as if she were inspecting them. “It is late. I’ll see you tomorrow at lunch then?”

“Lunch, yup,” Chaeyoung replied, and began backing towards the door. She took one last good look at Mina before she left. The older girl looked as though she were folding in on herself. Her usual calm demeanor was completely shaken. Although Chaeyoung liked to see more than the image Mina put on for everyone at school, she didn’t like to see this side of her: ashamed, filled with grief and fear. Not fear of Chaeyoung but fear of herself. Why the older girl was so scared, Chaeyoung could only guess. She knew Mina’s past was a bit more complicated than hers, with her coming into her powers so late. There was a story there, something terrible probably. Chaeyoung was determined to find out what that was. She closed the door quietly behind her and dragged her feet, socks slipping along the wood floor, as she walked back to her room.

 

Lunch the next day was a bit awkward, as expected. Neither Mina nor Chaeyoung told anyone else what had happened late last night, and they weren’t planning on it any time soon. As Mina made her way over to the picnic table, Chaeyoung could feel her heart fluttering in her chest. She anxiously started chewing on her food, pretending to be busy. As Mina sat down next to Tzuyu and chimed her usual pleasantries ("hello everyone"), she avoided eye contact with Chaeyoung. Chaeyoung noticed the lack of eye contact, although her other two friends remained oblivious to the subtle fact. It was so subtle, yet enough to make Chaeyoung's stomach ache. Would all of their interactions be awkward from now on? 

Dahyun’s voice began droning on about something no one particularly cared about until Nayeon’s cry pierced the distance between the two adjacent picnic tables. “Tzuyu!” Nayeon yelled, and the younger girl’s head snapped up from her lunch tray with a look of annoyance. “How about you push your table over here and join us?”

“How about you push yours over here?” Tzuyu challenged, not moving an inch.

“I’m comfortable at the moment,” Nayeon whined. To be fair, she did look comfortable. She was seated on Momo’s lap, with Momo’s arms wrapped firmly around her waist. “And besides, you’re the one with super strength.”

Tzuyu sighed and stood up. Mina began to stand as well but Tzuyu raised her hand, signaling her to sit down. “You can sit down, just hang on,” she instructed. Mina returned to her seat and Tzuyu, with both hands on the table, pushed it effortlessly until it was touching Nayeon’s table.

“Look, now we’re one big happy family!” Sana yelled, and Dahyun beamed at her.

The girls resumed their eating for a minute in silence before Nayeon (big surprise) broke it. “So Mina, what’s this I hear about you refusing to use your powers in class?”

Jihyo and Jeongyeon glared at the older girl, who shrugged and smiled apologetically. “What? I’m just curious.”

“Does everyone know?” Mina asked, horrified.

“Well...gossip spreads around fast. Small schools are like that, you know?” Jihyo replied.

Mina sighed and rested her chin on her hand. “I don’t like using my powers…”

“So you actually said no to Nichkhun? Dang, girl,” Dahyun said, impressed.

Momo shifted Nayeon slightly on her lap so that she could see Mina over Nayeon’s shoulder. “Did JYP really swoop in and save the day? He never walks in on other classes.”

“Yeah, he stood up for me, luckily.”

“If he hadn’t have showed up I would have,” Chaeyoung blurted out, and despite her outburst Mina didn’t even give a glance in her direction. "I would've stood up for you."

“Yeah, cause you totally would’ve stood up to Nichkhun.” Tzuyu rolled her eyes.

“I would have!” Chaeyoung yelled, crossing her arms. “I really would’ve done it. He was being a jerk about it.”

Nayeon raised an eyebrow and Mina finally glanced in Chaeyoung’s direction, only for a moment though before her eyes returned to the food in front of her. Jihyo, now seated at Mina’s left, watched the younger girl with a bit of amusement, but said nothing.

“I would’ve paid money to see JYP tell Nichkhun off. Seriously. I bet this was the look on his face.” Dahyun, on que, made a terrified, ugly expression.

Jeongyeon snorted and Sana laughed.

“You seem pretty close with JYP already,” Nayeon said to Mina as she placed both of her hands on Momo’s and traced the girl’s skin slowly in circles with her thumbs.

Mina shrugged. “He understands my situation the best, I guess. He’s been really helpful. Of course I’m so grateful to be here, and for him to take me in.”

"You're not sleeping with him, are you?" Nayeon asked, and Chaeyoung, who was in the middle of sipping her chocolate milk, nearly spit out her drink.

"Nayeon! Oh my god!" Sana cried, slapping the older girl repeatly. 

"Jesus Christ, Nayeon," Jeongyeon scolded, mouth open in disgust.

Mina looked mortified, mouth open in shock. 

"I'm kidding! He's like a grandpa, relax! Gosh, can y'all not take a joke?" Nayeon replied. Everyone else at the table collectively shook their heads. 

Jihyo wrapped her arms around Mina protectively. "Don't worry Mina, no one actually thinks that. Nayeon's just a pervert." 

 

When the lunch period was over, and people began to walk back toward the building, Chaeyoung remained standing at the table, feeling too anxious to move. Nayeon and Momo were walking obnoxiously close together, arms brushing each other with every step. Sana had found her way next to Dahyun’s side and was whispering something into the younger girl’s ear that was making her blush. Jeongyeon and Tzuyu were bonding in their collective annoyance at Nayeon and Momo’s PDA, (would they just ask each other out already? They were so obviously whipped for each other it was almost disgusting), and then there was Mina, trailing behind.

Jihyo, who had remained back at the table with Chaeyoung, walked forward and leaned down so that her lips were close to Chaeyoung’s ear. “Go talk to her,” she whispered, and pulled back, giving Chaeyoung a knowing look.

Chaeyoung stomped her feet and wanted to yell at Jihyo for using her powers—god damn it, why did she have to know everything?—but wordlessly started running after Mina, who was wandering into the building slowly, with a rather lost expression on her face.

“Mina!” Chaeyoung called, and Mina’s eyes widened as she stopped abruptly and turned around, coming face to face with Chaeyoung.

“Hi,” she said, shyly. Her expression was a mask.

Chaeyoung took the girl’s arm and pulled her away from the middle of the courtyard, where their voices could go unheard.

“About last night…” Chaeyoung began.

“Can we forget it ever happened?” Mina pleaded, lips pressed together.

“Of course!” Chaeyoung replied. “That’s what I want. I just...I don’t want things to be weird between us. You don’t have to ignore me. Please. I can’t stand it.” It was then Chaeyoung realized her arm was still linked with Mina’s. She unlinked their arms at once and stepped back to look up at the older girl.

“I’m sorry,” Mina whispered. “I...just didn’t know what to do. I’m so embarrassed…”

“Don’t be! It’s okay!” Chaeyoung assured. “I have been told my lips look very kissable.” She smirked and her eyes lit up mischievously.

Mina scoffed, clearly flustered, and whined slightly. “Oh really? And who told you that?”

Chaeyoung’s smirk fell off her face and she clenched her teeth. “Oh, you know...people.”

“Uh-huh,” Mina laughed, and already the atmosphere between them was less awkward. “Who are you, Im Nayeon?”

Chaeyoung looked offended. “No! I’m just saying. I have quite an effect on people, it’s true!”

Mina was shaking her head, cheeks turning red. “Just keep telling yourself that.”

Chaeyoung put her hands on her hips and glared at Mina, who smiled her gummy smile back. Chaeyoung immediately softened up, practically melting.

“Hey lovebirds, you’re gonna be late for class!” Jihyo suddenly called, startling them both as she waved from the doorway.

“We’re not—” Chaeyoung yelled, but stopped mid-sentence as Jihyo smirked and disappeared into the building. Mina crossed her arms and looked absolutely mortified.

“I hate her,” Chaeyoung muttered.

“Oh god, she knows, doesn’t she?” Mina replied, clasping her hands together tightly in front of her.

“Like I said before, you can’t hide ANYTHING with that girl around. It’s so annoying. She is right though, you don’t want to be late on your second day. You’ll get kicked out…”

Mina’s eyes widened and she quickly began sprinting for the door.

“Hey!” Chaeyoung yelled, starting to chase after the girl, but she abruptly stopped, immobilized by the laughter erupting through her chest. “I’m only kidding!”

Mina paused at the doorway, looking back at Chaeyoung with an exasperated look on her face. “That’s not funny, Son Chaeyoung!” she called back, pouting like a little kid.

Chaeyoung quickly closed the distance between them and they walked into the school together, giggling a bit.

“Come over later,” Mina suddenly commanded, and the laughter left Chaeyoung’s lips at the unexpected comment. They had reached the end of the hallway, and Mina’s class was to the left while Chaeyoung’s was to the right. “Later tonight, we can hang out again.”

“Okay,” Chaeyoung nodded, tucking her thumbs under the straps of her backpack. “Sounds like a plan.” The two parted ways, giving each other curt, shy waves before heading off. A huge smile broke out on Chaeyoung’s face and she couldn’t get it off for the next ten minutes, receiving a questioning look from Tzuyu as she settled into her seat in history class, but she was too giddy to care.

_________________

“You’re cute when you’re angry,” Momo whispered, staring at Nayeon with a dreamy look on her face.

“You think I’m always cute,” Nayeon muttered, pout softening slightly after seeing Momo’s intense expression.

“True,” Momo replied. “But you’re extra cute when you’re angry. Your nose scrunches up a bit and your eyebrows crinkle together…”

Nayeon, seeming to have ignored everything Momo just said, sighed. “I just can’t believe we’re stuck here while those people are out terrorizing other mutants. I mean, how many more of us are going to have to die before we actually do something?”

Momo snapped out of her trance and leaned forward. They were sitting in the library after the school day was over, attempting to get work done. However, word had spread that another mutant had been killed and the HCA had taken credit for it. “I know, it’s terrible, but Jeongyeon said—”

“I know what Jeongyeon said, and she’s right, but I’m just getting so tired of this...hiding out here, like we should be afraid, when we could destroy those people if we wanted to. All of us, together, we could put a stop to it.”

Momo reached across the table and grabbed Nayeon’s hand thoughtfully. “We could, but people would be even more afraid of us…”

Nayeon ran a hand through her hair with her free hand, looking frustrated. "Some day, things will be different." 

“Hey, look at me,” Momo said, and Nayeon looked up from her phone where the news alert had been and stared into Momo’s soft eyes. “It’ll be okay.”

And hearing Momo say that, Nayeon knew it would be. She took Momo’s other hand and squeezed it back, feeling herself beginning to cool down.

Nayeon had always been a bit jaded when it came to human/mutant relationships. Maybe it was because as soon as her powers emerged her parents had treated her like a freak. She’d run away from home at the age of 13, having not a clue what she was doing. She had been so upset, so angry with her parents walking out the door, that she’d accidentally taken herself back an entire year. She’d woken up, completely in shock, as a 12 year old kid again, with parents that still loved her because they didn’t know the truth about her yet. She had made sure to do things differently that year, making sure there was no accidental discovery of her powers as there had been before.

She ended up telling her parents about her powers instead, giving them a second chance to react differently. She’d hoped they’d take things differently and accept her for who she was, but instead they were still afraid. They looked at her like she was a monster. She ran again, this time being slightly more prepared. She had a destination in mind, a school she’d heard rumors of, a place for people like her to go. She found it, and had lived there ever since.

Momo, despite being orphaned at the age of 8, had managed to maintain a positive outlook on things. Maybe that’s why Nayeon admired her so much. Momo found wonder in even the smallest of things, and believed everyone was good at heart. She was also really, really cute and actually complimented Nayeon instead of jumping on board the "let's drag Nayeon" train. Nayeon appreciated that.

“Hey, you okay?” Momo asked, and Nayeon blinked, snapping out of her trip down memory lane.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I’m better now.” Without thinking, Nayeon leaned forward and kissed Momo on the cheek. The younger girl blinked, looking a bit stunned, and looked around to see if anyone else saw. It seemed everyone was too consumed with their studying to notice. Momo shyly grinned back at Nayeon.

“What was that for?” she asked.

“Just for being you, that’s all,” Nayeon replied, smiling so that her bunny teeth were visible.


	3. Empty Threat

“So you got caught by a government agency? Like a sci-fi movie?” Chaeyoung asked incredulously, staring at Mina. She was sitting on the older girl’s bed later that night. Chaeyoung had come over at 7PM, and Mina couldn’t help but smile as she opened the door to find Chaeyoung standing in the hallway. This time, Chaeyoung wasn’t in her pajamas yet, but she was dressed casually, having changed out of her school uniform.

“You could say that. I was intercepted before I made it here. I’d been using my powers sparingly, you know, to get by. Somehow they found me and must’ve slipped something into a drink I ordered from a cafe. I was out before I knew it, and I woke up in a cell with no one else around. It was the most terrifying experience of my life.”

“God, I can't imagine. So where were you?” Chaeyoung was leaning forward, hanging onto every word Mina had to say.

“A Japanese facility, like a headquarters of sorts, here in Korea. I woke up with a chip in my head, it prevented me from using my powers. Except unlike the one I have now, I couldn’t pull it out. I tried and clawed at it but it was drilled into my head. Then they ran some tests on me…trying to better understand my powers...”

“My god, Mina….I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

“It’s in the past now,” Mina assured, forcing a closed-mouth smile. “I’m just really glad to be here.”

“So JYP knows. That’s why he’s been so careful with you?” Chaeyoung asked.

“Yes, he knows everything.” Chaeyoung was only the second person to hear Mina’s story, and she was barely scratching the surface.

Being in Mina’s room again, Chaeyoung was worried the awkwardness from last night would return. There was still some lingering, but it was being ignored by both parties for now. Chaeyoung’s heart was beating quickly and her palms were getting unusually sweaty, but she tried to focus on what Mina had to say. Mina had to turn away a few times when she noticed her own gaze being held on Chaeyoung for too long. Chaeyoung had caught her staring and they both instantly turned away, reacting as quick as lightning. Yup. Totally not awkward at all.

“How long were you there?” Chaeyoung asked, swinging her dangling legs back and forth.

“Over a year.”

“But they...let you out of that cell...right?”

Mina hesitated a moment but then nodded. “Yes, they did. After a few weeks, when they thought they could trust me more. They started teaching me Korean, with a private tutor and everything. Eventually, they began training me to use my powers. They tried to help me strengthen them. When I passed all their tests and played along with their games they sent me out to do things for them. That was the only time I got to go outside.”

“Things?”

Mina shook her head, clearly pained at even recalling the memories. “Mostly infiltrating the Korean government and stealing secrets. Although they had bigger plans for me, but I got out before then, luckily.”

“How did they keep you there, I mean when they sent you out on missions, couldn’t you just...hypnotize your way out of their control?”

Mina adjusted her position slightly, wringing her hands in front of her. “They anticipated that, so they outfitted me with a permanent headpiece that would shock me if I stepped out of line. They had surveillance watching my every move from a room back at the facility. Any misstep and I’d get...electrocuted. Badly.” 

Chaeyoung ran a hand through her short hair. She didn’t know what to say to that, but the thought absolutely horrified her. The fact that Mina went through something so horrible…

She took a breath and made a choice, reaching her left hand toward Mina’s and placing it gently on top. It was meant to be a supportive gesture, but Mina flinched at the touch slightly.

“Sorry,” she whispered. “Talking about that...just upsets me a bit.”

“You don’t have to say anymore. Mina, what you went through is...insane. Thank god you made it out of there and found us.” And found me, Chaeyoung thought. Wait, what? 

Mina turned to the younger girl, forcing her lips up into a smile. Her eyes were sparkling, even in the low light the dorm room provided. “It was a complication but, all that matters is that I made it here.”

Chaeyoung wanted to ask her more—she had so many questions—but she thought it best to drop the topic. It was obviously hard for Mina to talk about, and understandably so. Instead, Chaeyoung began talking about her childhood. She talked about her favorite Christmas present, an oil paint set and an easel. She spoke about her older brother and the trouble they got into. Mina, in turn, brought up her own older brother, and the two were laughing together before they knew it. The atmosphere turned lighter and became breathable, finally.

It was 10PM and time for Chaeyoung to retire to her room. They said their goodbyes and Chaeyoung gently closed the door behind her. She left feeling more intrigued and confused about Mina than ever. 

____________________________________

“Tzuyu!” A warm voice called, and Tzuyu, immersed in her English reading, lifted her head to find the source of the sound disturbing her studies. She was in the almost empty library. It was a Friday afternoon, afterall. 

Jihyo was walking over, smiling brightly, and Tzuyu inwardly sighed. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Jihyo—far from it, she had so much respect for her—but she never knew what to say to the girl. Jihyo was bright, intellectually yes, but her personality glowed. Like the sun. Sometimes Tzuyu felt overwhelmed by it. While Tzuyu liked to keep to herself, Jihyo was a socialite who could get along with everyone. Sometimes Tzuyu felt inferior when she was around her for this reason.

“It’s good to see you working hard with your studies. Unlike Chaeyoung, that girl has her head in the clouds recently.” Jihyo liked to take the School Meal Club under her wing. She considered herself to be their unofficial tutor, although they were all doing well in their classes. She still checked in with them often in regards to her school work.

“Chaeyoung’s been acting...strangely.” Tzuyu remarked, a bit surprised Jihyo had suddenly brought up Chaeyoung. Tzuyu had noticed the girl was unusually giddy, and noticed her daydreaming more often in class, doodling in the margins of her notebook instead of taking notes.

Jihyo looked over at Tzuyu and gave her an almost sympathetic look before she laughed to herself.

Tzuyu glared at Jihyo. “What? What’s so funny?”

“Crushes will do that to people. They make you act stupid. Don’t fall in love, Tzuyu,” Jihyo said, jokingly.

Tzuyu let the words spin through her head. Crushes? Chaeyoung had only started acting this way recently...and who had come along right around then? Oh. Wow, Tzuyu suddenly felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner. Chaeyoung had a crush on Mina.

“Mina,” Tzuyu blurted out, and Jihyo simply smiled at the girl.

Tzuyu wasn’t sure how to feel about this development. She liked Mina, sure, although she was still bitter that Mina beat her in Clue. But, Mina was so...mysterious. Tzuyu was sure the girl was hiding something big. It made Tzuyu slightly uneasy, but perhaps she was simply imagining things.

Jihyo, sensing Tzuyu’s thoughts, reached across the table and took Tzuyu’s hand. “Mina’s a good person,” she affirmed. “Don’t worry.” Jihyo knew how protective Tzuyu could be, especially when it came to Chaeyoung. Despite having a rather hardened personality, Tzuyu had a soft spot when it came to animals and Chaeyoung.

Tzuyu simply nodded. She knew that was something Jihyo would know, due to her powers. It made Tzuyu feel less worried about the whole thing.

“I’ll let you get back to it,” Jihyo said, patting Tzuyu’s hand gently before standing up. Tzuyu watched as Jihyo walked away, probably to go make sure none of her other friends were causing trouble. Despite having interupted her studying, Tzuyu wished Jihyo had stayed a bit longer. 

____________________________________

After a few more days of watching, Mina decided it was time to start using her powers in her abilities class. Chaeyoung had repeatedly told her that she didn’t have to be afraid. Mina, though wary, listened to her friend. She didn’t want to hurt Chaeyoung, and would never forgive herself if she did somehow. She had agreed to begin using them again if Chaeyoung wasn’t her partner.

“Don’t...volunteer to be my partner this time,” Mina asked. At first, Chaeyoung was hurt and confused, but Mina explained herself. “I don’t know what I would do if I hurt you.”

Chaeyoung agreed. She’d help Mina in any way she could, and if that meant not volunteering, she wouldn’t.

The first person partnered with Mina was a boy with light red hair and bangs carefully styled across his forehead. His power was teleportation, which came in handy when avoiding physical blows from an enemy, But Mina’s power was intangible, and her thoughts alone could target someone regardless of their location, as long as they were within her vicinity. Mina was instructed to incapacitate him. Chaeyoung, from the sidelines, held her breath. She was nervous for Mina, but also strangely excited to witness Mina using her powers for the first time.

The boy disappeared and appeared, closer and farther away, fading in and out of Mina’s view. Mina nearly jumped backward as he appeared right next to her, smiling playfully, before he disappeared again. He was acting like this was a game. Did he think Mina would be a weak opponent? Mina’s brow furrowed, focusing, and she extended her hand out in front of her. He glitched into view mid-jump, a few feet away from Mina, and stumbled. He fell to the ground, asleep.

Chaeyoung began clapping and cheering for Mina. Other students murmured to each other, impressed. Nichkhun nodded curtly to Mina, who stepped back from the combat floor immediately. She waved her hand again, and this time Chaeyoung caught a glimpse of the air around it stirring, evidence that she was using her powers, and the boy sat up abruptly, eyes shooting open. He jumped up and blinked, confused. Everyone laughed, and Nichkhun explained that Mina had put him to sleep. He shook Mina’s hand, not bitter at all, but impressed.

The next few days occurred in a similar manner. Each time a new student would challenge Mina, and each time they’d drop in seconds. While everyone was impressed, there was a tension beginning to build. Mina was powerful, almost too powerful. Could anyone really stop her?

Eventually Nichkhun had her taking on multiple students at once. This required her to concentrate harder and dodge any incoming attacks from the other parties. Still, she was successful.

“You’re unstoppable!” Chaeyoung mused one day after class, patting Mina on the back. The older girl simply shook her head. She looked very uncomfortable with everything, despite her growing popularity among the students and teachers. Nichkhun eventually requested that she do more than hypnotize people to sleep, which was her go-to move, and so she had to get more creative. She was a bit nervous to go beyond that point, but she did as she was told. 

Her two challengers today were suddenly convinced that they were supposed to be fighting each other instead of Mina. As the two boys decked it out, throwing fireballs and electroballs respectively, Nichkhun called to Mina to make it stop. With a wave of her hand it was done, and the two boys were left flabbergasted, looking at each other in confusion.

After that class, Mina was pulled aside by Nichkhun as students poured out of the classroom. Chaeyoung, who was standing next to Mina, paused and gave Mina an encouraging nod before she left the classroom. Mina gulped, having no idea what Nichkhun would have to say to her.

“Mina, you’ve been doing exceptional lately. Do you feel as though you’re honing your abilities to a greater extent?”

Truthfully, yes, the exercises were helping her hold back, which is what she wanted. She nodded at him.

“I think it’d be in your best interest to be moved to the higher level abilities class. I already talked to JYP and he agrees, as long as you’re comfortable with it.”

Mina’s eyes widened. She certainly didn’t expect that. She wanted to learn to control her powers yes, but not make them stronger. Would this be the way to do that?

“Okay,” she replied. She knew Nayeon, Jeongyeon and Jihyo would at least be in her class. She’d be leaving Chaeyoung, but the younger girl would certainly understand, wouldn’t she?

_____________________

Dahyun liked to walk around the school grounds. For one, the landscape was well kept, and she liked the fresh air. Being cooped up inside all day made her stir crazy. She’d take a walk daily, when weather allowed it, after her last class of the day. It allowed her to think and clear her mind.

A few days ago though, as she began her walk, she heard a high pitched voice calling her name, and spun around to see Sana running toward her. Her Sana. She flushed with embarrassment as Sana drew nearer, huffing a bit from the run, but smiling nonetheless.

“Can I tag along?” she asked innocently, staring at Dahyun with puppy eyes. How could anyone ever say no?

“Of course!” Dahyun sang, trying to hide her excitement. She’d been wanting to spend some time alone with Sana recently, but didn’t really know how to ask. Now, here she was, clinging to her arm and giggling. Dahyun was on Cloud 9.

Despite Sana’s normally hyperactive personality, the girl was silent as they took their walk, much to Dahyun’s surprise. It was nice to just spend time together in silence. They took in the view of the garden and flowers and that was enough.

It became routine for Sana to join her whenever their classes allowed it. They became “walking buddies”, as Sana put it. At first, the contact of Sana’s arm against her own had made Dahyun jittery, but she was quickly getting used to it. Being alone with Sana made her nervous, because she knew she couldn’t control the pounding of her heart. Did Sana hear it? Did she see right through her?

Today though, Sana started conversation amid their quiet walk. It was unexpected, but pleasant. “Do you ever think about leaving here one day, and where you’ll go?”

Dahyun reflected for a moment, turning her head to her right to see Sana’s thoughtful eyes shining at her. “I always wanted to be on TV,” she blurted out. The thought sounded ridiculous now, and Dahyun felt embarrassed for having said that out loud.

Sana smiled, and her gaze turned even brighter. “An actress?”

“Maybe. Or a talk show host. Maybe even on a variety show. Something where I could make people laugh.” Dahyun shyly turned away, but she could still see Sana’s warm gaze on her from the corner of her vision. Sana had a way of looking at people as if they were her entire world. Dahyun could feel her heart rate increasing.

“You’d be amazing,” Sana agreed. “A star. You’d capture everyone’s hearts.”

Dahyun could feel herself blushing. “What about you?”

“I’ve always loved music...maybe singing?” she said, shyly.

“Really?” Dahyun asked.

“My grandmother and I, when I was a kid, we’d watch performers on TV, and sing along to the performances.” This was back before her grandmother passed, leaving her alone. She’d run away from the aunt that took her in, a wicked woman who seemed to despise her as soon as she arrived, and after wandering around without a destination, ran into Momo.

“I bet you’d be amazing!” Dahyun replied.

“You haven’t heard me sing yet!” Sana laughed.

“Oh, right...well, I just have a feeling,” Dahyun said, with a sheepish grin on her face.

Sana ruffled the younger girl’s hair and they both laughed. “Thanks for having faith in me.”

“Sana? Sana!” A voice yelled, startling both Sana and Dahyun. The girls spun around to see Jihyo and Nayeon, across the courtyard, waving them down. “Come quick!” Jihyo yelled. The look of fear on Jihyo’s face was enough to send both girls running in their direction, even though Sana usually avoided running at all costs.

“Momo’s in trouble, we’re going to go get her,” Nayeon explained. “I called Mina and Chaeyoung and they’re both on their way. We got the okay from JYP to take a van and find her.”

Without a word, Sana and Dahyun both hurried behind Nayeon and Jihyo, who were making their way toward the gate where the school’s vehicles were located.

Mina and Chaeyoung came running up behind them, both looking worried. The girls quickly got into one of the school’s SUVs, with Nayeon taking the wheel, while Jihyo entered Momo’s location into her phone’s map app. “She’s ten minutes away,” Jihyo said, and Nayeon stepped on the gas hard, nearly throwing everyone forward.

“What happened?” a frazzled Sana asked. She felt sick, knowing her best friend was in some sort of danger.

“Momo called me, saying she was taken by someone when she was out on a grocery run.” Momo stocked up on snacks weekly, venturing out the school walls and to the closest grocery store. “She said she woke up in a car but it was dark and she could barely see anything. All she remembered was a man who hit her from behind when she walked outside. She’s not sure where she was headed. The call ended abruptly, but with JYP’s help we were able to track down her location using her phone. She’s at some warehouse outside of the city.” Nayeon spoke quickly, and looking at her face she was trying her best to stay calm.

“We’re not sure who took her or how many of them there are, so that’s why you’re all here. Now’s the time to take what we used in abilities class and apply it to real life,” Jihyo said.

“It’s the HCA.” Dahyun leaned forward in her seat. “I just know it. How did they find us?”

A shiver went down Sana’s spine. If Momo was in the hands of the HCA, there was no telling what they were doing with her now. Hang in there Momo, we’re coming, Sana thought. She pictured Momo tied up. Alone and afraid. Her stomach dropped.

The rest of the ride was plagued in silence. Nayeon pulled up outside of the warehouse, on the side of the street. It was a large, industrial looking building with a dark grey exterior. Quietly the girls got out of the truck and approached a door. There was a single van parked near the building. “I can sense someone inside. 2 people,” Jihyo confirmed. She scanned the building as they approached. "One on the ground floor, and one on the second floor." 

Chaeyoung opened the door with her telekinesis, as it was locked. The metal door creaked with her force, and then slowly opened. Nayeon was the first to enter, peaking inside the building, which was totally lit. They entered a huge, empty room. A second floor was visible from where they stood, with stairs leading up to it on the far end of the building. There was not a person in sight.

“I don’t like this,” Dahyun whispered. “What if it’s a trap?”

Before anyone could say a word, there was a loud, blaring alarm, sounding a single note which lasted for a few seconds before subsiding. A white gas, nearly invisible and wispy in nature, began spraying quickly into the room directly at the girls from all sides. They were enveloped in the mist in an instant, and began coughing and shielding their eyes as it burned down their throats and in their lungs. It lingered in the air for a moment longer, before it suddenly cleared up, and the burning stopped.

“Yeah, definitely a trap,” Dahyun remarked. 

“What was that?” Nayeon nearly yelled, eyes wide. “Poisonous gas?”

“Well, we’re still breathing,” Chaeyoung observed. “It hurt to breath in but I think we’re okay, at least for now. Is everyone else alright?”

Everyone nodded. 

“We have to keep going and get Momo,” Nayeon exclaimed. “We find her, and then we get out.”

“We can all check in with Miss Suzy when we’re back, just to make sure we’re all alright,” Jihyo added.

“First sign of trouble and I’m jumping back in time,” Nayeon assured. “But for now let’s just go.”

“Chaeyoung and Mina, can you guys check the second level? Stay together, and call immediately if you need help,” Jihyo instructed.

Chaeyoung took the lead, with Mina trailing behind. Both looked on red alert as they began to cross the large room.

“We’ll split off too. Nayeon, with me, we’ll check this half of the ground floor, Sana and Dahyun, you check the other,” Jihyo continued.

The girls broke off, going their respective ways. Sana reached for Dahyun’s hand and held it tightly. She felt as if she might pass out at any moment from nerves alone. “This place is huge. I’ll duplicate myself and cover more ground that way,” Dahyun said. She closed her eyes and her brow furrowed in concentration. Sana watched her closely, anticipating the familiar cloning effect. They waited. Another minute passed. Nothing. Dahyun opened her eyes, looking frustrated and confused. “I can’t...my powers...they’re not working…”

There was a sudden panic. Sana was pulling Dahyun down towards the end of the building where there were multiple doors. “We need to find her,” Sana urged. “You can still see me right?”

Dahyun nodded quickly and Sana sucked in a breath. “Then I can’t use my powers either. Oh God, Momo where are you?”

They kicked opened the first door after fumbling with a lock, and, much to their surprise, there was Momo sitting against the wall, hands behind her back. The brunette looked up in surprise as Sana and Dahyun entered and cried out at the sight of them.

“Momo!” Sana yelled, and ran to her friend, kneeling down beside her. Sana took Momo’s face in her hands, sighing with relief. “Thank God!”

“My hands,” Momo replied. She attempted to stand but stumbled, and Sana quickly helped the girl to her feet. She saw that Momo’s hands were bound with thick rope.

“I’ll find something to cut it,” Dahyun replied, running out of the room. Sana pulled Momo towards the door, and they staggered there together, Momo leaning against Sana with every step.

“Here!” Dahyun cheered, holding up an unusually large knife. A hunting knife, the girl supposed, but she didn't question it. She had found it conveniently sitting near another door. She ran over to Momo and carefully sawed at the rope until Momo was able to pull her hands free.

Sana squealed and threw herself at the older girl as soon as her arms were free. Momo stepped back in surprise but hesitantly returned Sana’s hug. “We were so worried! What happened?” Sana cried.

“It was the HCA...a man jumped me…” was all Momo said. She looked slightly out of it, but Sana couldn’t blame her. She had just been kidnapped, after all.

“Jihyo, Nayeon!” Dahyun called out, hoping the older girls would hear her. She still held the knife in her hands awkwardly. When they didn’t respond, she set down the knife on the floor to the side and pulled out her phone, immediately dialing Jihyo’s number. She held up the phone to her ear and waited as it rang twice, before Jihyo picked up.

“We found Momo!” Dahyun practically yelled.

“Be right there,” Jihyo responded. “I’ll call Mina and Chaeyoung too.” She hung up the phone, and Dahyun sighed with relief. Sana had finally let Momo go, and was anxiously shifting her weight from foot to foot, waiting to leave.

“This place is giving me the creeps,” Sana whispered, looking around at the large warehouse. Momo walked over and picked up the knife Dahyun had set down, looking at it curiously. Dahyun and Sana looked over at her and gave her no mind.

“Hopefully Mina and Chaeyoung are alright, Jihyo said there was someone else here...maybe the man that kidnapped Momo?” Dahyun was thinking out loud, and Sana was nodding along, looking worried. They were both looking across the huge expansive room, where Jihyo and Nayeon were quickly approaching.

“At least we found Momo and we can just…” Sana’s eyes widened suddenly and her brow furrowed. She coughed, parting her lips slightly, as if in disbelief and shock. “And we can just…” she tried to continue, and this time she looked down at her chest, where the point of a knife was suddenly protruding, tip shining with red, hot

blood.

Dahyun’s mouth was open in a silent scream as she stared at Sana in horror. It was like the world around her had stopped and she could no longer function. Sana? Sana. SANA. 

“Dahyun?” Sana asked, looking up at Dahyun with the face of someone who was very afraid. The knife was ripped backward, slicing back through her chest the same way it had entered in one, smooth stroke. Sana winced and a strange, inhuman noise escaped her throat. “Dahyun?” she repeated, eyes turning blank as her knees buckled and she fell onto the cement floor.

Dahyun collapsed beside the girl, mouth still open, chest refusing to breathe. All she saw was red. Red everywhere. And familiar looking boots standing beside Sana. She followed the boots up and was looking at Momo, whose face was twisted into a triumphant smile. And the knife. The hunting knife from before. It was in her hand.

The screams rang out from all sides but they sounded far away. Dahyun was beside Sana, squeezing the girl’s trembling hand while pressing her free hand against Sana’s bleeding wound.

Blood. Red everywhere. Seeping through the cracks in Dahyun’s fingers. Smelling like iron. Dahyun could almost taste it in her mouth. Bitter. 

And Sana. Sana who was always smiling, always laughing, always there. The forward, violent motion of a knife was enough to rip that all away. “Hang on, we’ll get you to Miss Suzy, alright? Miss Suzy will heal you up, you’ll be fine!” Dahyun whispered, almost pleading. Her voice was wavering. “Sana? Sana, look at me. You’re fine, alright?”

Nayeon, across the room, had seen Momo approach Sana. Momo, who sat next to her at lunch. Momo, who gave her piggyback rides when she was too tired to move. Momo, who told her she looked beautiful no matter what she did with her hair. Momo, who she loved. That person, with Momo’s eyes and hair and face, who took a knife and stabbed it without second thought into her best friend’s back, that was not Momo.

Nayeon’s screams rang out too late as she saw the knife, glinting in the sunlight spilling through the cracked windows. She lifted her neuralyzer, the tool which helped her travel precisely back through time, and clicked the button on top. She expected to feel the familiar rush of being pushed back, but there was nothing. Nothing. She clicked her neuralyzer again. Nothing. She cried out; frustration, anger and devastation bursting from her chest. Why wasn’t it working? IT HAD TO WORK.

“My powers,” Nayeon said weakly. Jihyo’s arms were around her waist, holding her up.

“Something’s blocking them,” Jihyo murmured. “I can’t use mine either.” Together, the two of them rushed forward toward Dahyun and Sana, as Momo quickly backed away, spinning on her heel. Nayeon wanted to chase after Momo but she was so in shock that her legs felt numb. She could only watch as she headed toward the stairs leading to the second floor. There was a pit in Nayeon's stomach. She knew that girl was not, could not, be Momo.

“We need to get her back to JYP’s now,” Jihyo ordered, trying to put a brave face on for Dahyun and Nayeon.

 

Back at JYP’s, Jeongyeon had been watching Youtube videos when her phone suddenly vibrated with Nayeon’s contact lighting up the screen. She hesitantly picked up.

“What?” she asked, sounding slightly annoyed. Sometimes Nayeon would call Jeongyeon just to get on her nerves and she didn't think this time would be an exception.

“Have you seen Momo lately?” Nayeon asked, and Jeongyeon instantly stood up, hearing the fear in Nayeon’s voice.

“No, why? I figured she’d be with you…”

“Can you check her room please?” Nayeon pleaded. Her voice sounded borderline hysterical.

“What happened? Tell me.” Jeongyeon made her way out of her room, down the hallway toward the room Sana and Momo shared. Sana and Momo almost never locked their room. Jeongyeon knocked once, then twice, and when she didn’t hear anything she opened the door.

“There’s no time but—”

“Oh my god!” Jeongyeon cried out, and Nayeon, where she stood next to Jihyo, began trembling.

“Jeongyeon! Jeongyeon? What is it?” Nayeon gripped her phone tightly, trying to block out the sound of Dahyun’s crying in the background.

“It’s Momo...she’s...oh my god, Momo,” Jeongyeon shrieked. Nayeon had never heard Jeongyeon sound so unsettled. A wave of dread washed over Nayeon, more than what she already felt. “I need to go get help!” Jeongyeon spun on her heel, leaving the door wide open as she ran for the boy’s wing. She waved her hands and the world around her froze as time came to a stand still, allowing her to move as quickly as possible. In that moment, Nayeon was quiet, and Jeongyeon took the time to gain her composure. Once she reached her destination, she snapped and time started again.

“Jeongyeon!” Nayeon screamed. Tears were running down her face. “Is Momo okay? Tell me! Tell me!”

“She’s...frozen. Frozen solid. Nayeon, I’m getting help, I’ll call you back—”

“Jeongyeon!” Nayeon screamed again, and nearly threw her phone across the room, seeing the call had ended.

 

Jae. That was the one named burned into her mind at the moment. Jae. Need to find him. Need to find him. Jeongyeon pounded on the older boy’s door. “Jae! You in there? Momo needs help! Please!”

There was the sound of movement on the other side, and then Jae opened his door, glasses askew, blonde hair sticking up in every direction, looking frazzled.

“Come with me, now!” Jeongyeon commanded, turning to run back towards Momo’s room. “Hurry Jae!”

Jae did as he was told, not even questioning it. The look on Jeongyeon’s face was enough to tell him whatever it was it was serious.

They abruptly stopped in the doorway of Momo’s room, and Jae opened his mouth in shock, staring at Momo, who was on the ground, practically a shade of blue.

“Can you help her?” Jeongyeon asked, collapsing down beside the girl and grabbing the girl’s arm, only to recoil at the burning cool touch.

“I...I can try,” Jae stuttered, quickly bending down onto his knees beside the girl. He put both hands on her left arm and furrowed his brow as a light began to appear from both his hands; an orange glow. The frost on Momo’s arm was beginning to fade and melt away. The frost was retreating, further and further. “I just have to be careful not to overheat her,” he exclaimed.

“I’m calling Miss Suzy now,” Jeongyeon said. “Just keep doing what you’re doing.”

“C’mon Momo,” Jae muttered, continuing to concentrate. The frost had almost retreated now, leaving the floor beneath her wet with what was once ice.

Momo’s lips were slightly blue, but she was no longer a human icicle. “Miss Suzy? Yes, this is Jeongyeon. Can you come to Momo’s room now? She’s hurt. Okay.” Jeongyeon hung up the phone. She moved Momo so that her head was lifted onto her lap. Jeongyeon held her hand in front of Momo’s mouth, hoping to feel breath. Nothing. She grabbed Momo’s wrist, searching for a pulse, she held her breath.

They waited in silence. There! Jeongyeon felt something. It was weak, but there. “What happened?” Jae asked. “How…?” No one at the school had this kind of power.

“I have no idea…” Jeongyeon sighed. “But I think Nayeon might be in trouble too. She knew something was wrong…”

Suzy appeared in the doorway. Without a word she was beside Momo. Jae jumped out of the way as she held a hand to Momo’s forehead. Everyone was still. Jeongyeon was staring at Momo, willing her to open her eyes. Right now, she felt as though her powers were useless. Pausing time would do no good. Reserving time would, maybe. Where was Nayeon?

As if reading her thoughts, Suzy explained what she knew. “JYP told me eveything. Sana is in trouble, she was stabbed. As soon as Momo’s feeling up to it she has to go get Sana and bring her back here.”

Momo’s eyes opened and she coughed. She looked up at Jeongyeon and began shivering uncontrollably. Jeongyeon wrapped her arms around the girl, attempting to keep her warm.

“Momo,” Suzy said softly. “You need to go get Sana, she’s hurt and you’re the only one who can get her fast enough.” At the sound of Sana’s name Momo lifted her head. Suzy handed her a phone with the coordinates of Sana’s location already plugged in.

Momo simply nodded, stood up, and despite her chattering teeth, began running. She disappeared in a blur. 

 

Meanwhile, Mina and Chaeyoung, who were in another room on the other side of the factory, had no idea what had just happened. They had entered a few rooms and found them empty, before finally stumbling across a room with a man sitting at a desk inside, phone in hand. He was a short man, but was quite muscular, with a big frame. Certainly not the type of guy you’d want to mess with. Especially not with the pistol sitting on the desk, easily within reach. The man quickly stood up at their entrance, causing Mina and Chaeyoung to freeze.

“We’re mutants,” Chaeyoung stuttered. “Don’t move and we won’t hurt you.” She held up a hand menacingly, and Mina did the same. Chaeyoung hoped they looked somewhat intimidating, but doubted it, with them wearing their school uniforms and being each less than five foot four inches tall.

The man hesitated for a moment, but then simply smiled, looking smug. “Nasty, filthy mutants,” he muttered. “You came after all, just like she said.”

Chaeyoung’s phone began vibrating in her pocket. She hastily pulled it out after seeing Jihyo’s contact lighting up the screen, making sure to keep a close eye on the man in front of them.

“Sana’s been stabbed,” Jihyo blurted out, and Chaeyoung took a sharp intake of breath, so fast that it felt like knives were sticking into her own lungs. “We can’t use our powers, something’s blocking them—it might have been that gas, maybe—so we need to get her back to the school, now.” Jihyo’s usually calm voice was wavering slightly. Chaeyoung couldn’t help but notice how she sounded afraid.

The room was quiet enough for Mina to hear every word Jihyo had said. She covered her mouth with her hands and held back a sob.

“And Chaeng...it was—”

The door to the room they were in swung open, revealing Momo with the knife in hand, slick with blood. The movement was so unexpected that Mina almost jumped. So in shock, Chaeyoung was barely able to choke out: “Momo?”

The girl continued to walk forward toward Mina and Chaeyoung, with a smile stretched out on her face. It looked foreign, out of place on Momo’s features, like it had been stuck on.

“Momo...what did you do?” Chaeyoung gasped.

Momo ignored Chaeyoung, and instead looked at Mina. Mina and Chaeyoung were backing up with every step Momo took forward, almost joining the man where he stood, back against the wall. “Oh Mina, I really didn’t want to do this. But you gave me no other choice.”

Mina stopped backing up. Her eyes lit up with confusion, and then finally recognition.

“That’s right,” she said, smile widening at Mina’s expression. “You know me, your old friend. Partners in crime. Remember all the secrets we stole together?”

Mina was speechless, but her hands were clenched into fists. Her mind was screaming in agony to render the girl in front of her unconscious but it seemed her powers weren’t working as well. “Having a little trouble there?” Momo laughed, sensing her struggle.

“You…” was all Mina could manage to say, meanwhile Chaeyoung looked between Mina and Momo with a confused and terrified look on her face.

Momo’s appearance suddenly changed, skin flipping back into tiny scale-like flecks, until almost instantaneously she no longer looked like Momo, but Mina instead. A spitting image of the girl. Chaeyoung almost cried out at the sight.

The girl that looked like Mina held the knife out in her hands, almost tauntingly. Blood had trickled down and stained her hands red. “Look what you did,” the girl said with a voice that sounded just like Mina’s, and she tsked her tongue like a disappointed parent.

The girl dropped the knife, and it fell to the floor with a clang, like the volume of a fire alarm going off in a library. “I’ll be in touch,” she said, winking at Mina before she walked past Chaeyoung and Mina, toward the exit.

“H-hey!” the man cried at the girl. “What about me? Don't you have to round up the rest of them? We had a deal!”

Chaeyoung made a lunge at the girl but Mina, the real Mina, held her back. “Don’t,” she begged, and Chaeyoung didn’t fight her. The girl disappeared out the door. 

Mina collapsed to the ground, breathing haggardly. Chaeyoung’s hand was gripping her forearm, and the younger girl fell to the ground with her, albeit more gracefully.

“It’s my fault,” Mina whispered, tears beginning to erupt from the corners of her eyes.

“It’s not your fault,” Chaeyoung assured, staring at the older girl’s tear-stained face. “There was nothing you could have done. She’s obviously a shapeshifter, she fooled us all.”

Mina groaned and shook her head, burying her face in her hands. “You don’t understand!” she yelled, and Chaeyoung flinched back at the volume. “That girl...she did this because of me. She warned me, but I—I didn’t listen. I didn’t let her out. She begged and screamed...I thought I’d never see her again but...she found me. I thought we were safe here. I thought we all were. I thought I’d never have to hurt anyone again. But if I—”

Chaeyoung stroked the girl’s hair, trying to calm her. “Slow down,” she murmured. She couldn’t begin to make sense of what Mina was saying, as it was jumbled and nonsensical. “Breathe. Sana will be alright, as soon as they get her back to JYP’s. In the meantime, we need to go back, now.”

Mina looked up at the man in front of them. He seemed much more confident now that it was certain that their powers were somehow rendered useless, but slightly on edge now that the girl had left him. But something had snapped in Mina. She scrambled over to the man’s gun, which laid untouched on the desk. She grabbed it, clocked it, and held it levelly in front of her, aiming it directly at the man’s head. He shouted and held up his hands immediately.

“Don’t shoot!” he begged, but Mina’s eyes were wild, almost animalistic. Her lips were pulled back in an almost snarl.

“You,” Mina spit the word out like it was poison in her mouth. “You’re working with her.”

The man continued to hold up his hands and shook his head wildly. “She recruited me...us...I don’t know anything about her...we had a common goal...said we could work together…”

“Mina,” Chaeyoung said, alarmed at what was transpiring in front of her. “We need to let the police deal with him.”

“Where is she going, do you know?” Mina asked the man, voice shaking.

“N-n-no! I swear! She found us. We almost didn’t want to work with her...a filthy mutant...but she...convinced us.”

“Mina, we need to go...Sana needs us,” Chaeyoung begged, carefully treading closer to the older girl, whose arm was trembling slightly with the gun in hand. Eventually Chaeyoung placed a hand on the girl’s shoulder, trying to coax her to put the gun down.

Mina’s finger hovered over the trigger, she took a breath.

“Mina.” Chaeyoung’s voice was in her ear. Soft. Reassuring.

Mina took another breath and lowered her arm. The man in front of her let out a sob of relief, lowering his arms.

“C’mon,” Chaeyoung said, pulling Mina toward the exit, back towards the main room. “We need to help Sana, she needs us.”

Mina wordlessly began following Chaeyoung. The gun felt heavy in her hand, but she didn't dare drop it with that man still staring them down. She clicked on the safety though. 

“The police will deal with you,” Chaeyoung remarked, glaring at the man. He took a few steps backward and sprinted toward the door in which the mysterious, shapeshifting girl had disappeared through.

Chaeyoung took Mina’s hand and together they ran to where Jihyo, Nayeon and Dahyun were standing on the main floor. Dahyun was knelt down on the ground beside Sana, who appeared bloody and crumbled.

Jihyo looked up as they approached. “Thank God you two are okay,” Jihyo said. “That girl...Momo…”

“She’s a shapeshifter, among other things,” Mina said, and everyone turned to her. Their eyes widened upon seeing the gun in her hand. 

“You know who that was?” Nayeon asked. Mina saw her eyes were red rimmed, and she was shivering, but not from the cold.

“Yes.”

“We’ll discuss it later. JYP is sending someone to pick up Sana. Momo, the real Momo, should be—”

Immediately a blur whizzed by, and a gust of wind blew back the hair of the girls gathered around Sana as Momo appeared. “Help her on my back,” Momo instructed, lowering herself so that Sana could be lifted up. Dahyun and Nayeon wordlessly helped to lift the girl up. “Hold on, okay,” Momo whispered to a barely conscious Sana, who simply murmured, but managed to cling to Momo. “I’ll see you all back there.” Another gust of wind, she became a blur, and was gone. Dahyun held back a sob, leaning against Jihyo for support.

“Everyone in the car, now,” Jihyo instructed. Everyone wordlessly followed Jihyo outside and to the back parking lot. As soon as everyone was seated, and Nayeon started the car, Dahyun began to sob. Jihyo rubbed her back and let the girl cry into her shoulder.

Mina felt numb, watching Dahyun cry, she felt like a dagger was being thrust into her heart again and again.

“How do you know her?” Nayeon asked Mina, who was sitting in the passenger seat beside her.

Mina sighed.

“Mina,” Nayeon’s voice was loud and commanding. She was gripping the steering wheel with white knuckles as she gunned it toward the school. She gritted her teeth. “Please.”

Mina leaned forward and blinked, causing a tear to fall down her cheek, clinging to her skin and leaving a wet, glossy trail. “I guess I’ll start from the beginning.”


	4. Down Side of Me

(Approximately 2 Years Ago...)

A tall woman, probably in her mid-twenties, entered Mina’s cell room—the room she’d gotten to know quite well over the past few weeks. With only a small twin mattress on a metal stand, the room was devoid of anything else. The cell’s glass walls let her see her surroundings, which were complicated looking equipment and occasionally various men in labcoats. To entertain herself after she had given up trying to pull the chip from her head, she counted the tiles on the floor. 118 to be exact. Once, twice, three times. It became a daily ritual.

She’d been taken from the cell to visit a few other rooms from time to time, all equally as obnoxiously bright with florescent lights shining down from the ceilings. The men wearing masks looking at her beyond dark glasses would strap her to a metal operating table, which was uncomfortably cold, and poke and prod her with sharp tools. They murmured things in whispers to each other, but never once addressed her.

Now, another soul had entered the cell she called her room, and this person was much different from the other men who occasionally dropped off food or gave her injections of vile looking liquid that made her feel nauseous.

Mina sat up, scanning her eyes over the stranger. She was wearing the familiar uniform of the other employees that came into her cell, although she looked much gentler. Her features weren’t all hard, sharp lines, but were rounded and soft. Though it was Mina’s first instinct to tense up when someone entered, she relaxed slightly at the sight of the woman with a slight release of breath.

“Hello Mina,” she said in Japanese. Her voice was quite lovely. Mina felt herself feeling safe, but quickly reminded herself to always stay on guard. “I’m Doctor Tanaka. I’m here to teach you Korean.”

Mina said nothing and simply turned away. Doctor Tanaka stood there patiently, regarding her with a small smile. “I’ll be your tutor for the next few weeks. Once a day. We’ll have one on one sessions. You’ll have reading assignments as well, to ensure you’ll be fluent as soon as possible.”

“Why?” Mina asked, still not making eye contact with the woman.

The doctor hesitated. “We—er, well, they, want you to be ready to go out in the field. Perform tasks for your government.”

Mina sighed, guessing what some of those tasks were, but not bothering to detest. There was nothing she could do with the chip in her head blocking her powers anyway. She was so desperate for fresh air that she’d be willing to do nearly anything.

“For now, I brought you a textbook. We’ll start off simple. I know you’ve probably picked up some basics from living here for a few weeks but, we’ll cover more ground. You’ll be fluent in no time!” The doctor spoke very cheerily, and for some reason it made Mina angry. And yet, another part of her found comfort in the woman’s soft mannerisms. Tanaka wasn’t looking at Mina like she was an experiment. It seemed the doctor actually viewed Mina as a human being.

 

Mina grew to look forward to her sessions with Doctor Tanaka. They were the highlight of her day; a glimpse of entertainment amid boring, grey hours which dragged on endlessly. She was even given more reading material. Granted, they were more textbooks, but Mina read them vigorously. Doctor Tanaka was a good teacher, and Mina was a fast learner. Within a month, Mina was able to form sentences quite well and understand Korean spoken to her almost perfectly. The men in labcoats who watched her were quite pleased with her progress.

“She’ll be ready for the field soon, then?” a man asked Doctor Tanaka, standing outside of Mina’s cell, looking in through the glass walls. Mina was perched on her bed, bent over another textbook that Tanaka had given her yesterday.

“Yes, within a few months she’ll be totally fluent.”

“She doesn’t need to be fluent, just competent,” the man remarked. “We need her out there as soon as possible with Akari. She’s getting too sloppy, leaving too many casualties behind. Mina will help stop that.”

Mina could slightly make out the words of the two people watching her outside, although she pretended not to be listening. At the sound of an unknown name, her eyes lifted though, and she briefly made eye contact with Doctor Tanaka before looking back down at her book. Akari? Casualties?

A few weeks passed before Mina was brought out of her cell more frequently to other rooms where she could actually use her powers. Despite having a new sense of freedom, the rooms around her were heavily outfitted with a material that limited the distance to which her powers could extend. The chip implanted in her head was removed and a test subject would be sent in. She was to use her powers to the fullest extent, constantly pushing her limit to immediately render the subject completely under her control.

Sometimes the amount of effort it took was enough to make her pass out, and she’d wake up in her cell once again, but eventually she grew more used to the pounding headache using her powers gave her. She could make someone do anything, whatever was instructed of her from the speaker overhead. Because Mina was to be sent out into the field to act as damage control, she was to prevent her partner—she assumed this mysterious Akari person whose name she had heard earlier—from leaving a wake of destruction in her path.

Wiping memories became a common drill. Mina could make someone forget recent events, even who they were entirely. She could even forge false memories, but that was quite difficult and straining. Causing people to pass out was a quick and easy way to stop threatening enemies without hurting them. However, Mina was made aware that casualties were sometimes an unavoidable part of an operation. “Let your partner worry about that,” the man over the loud speaker said. There was a sense of relief, knowing that she wouldn’t be forced to take someone’s life. But there was also a terror in knowing she was working with someone who might have to do that on occasion.

 

A month later, Mina was brought down a series of hallways, expecting to be taken to the usual testing room, but instead she was dragged further into the complex. Eventually she was brought into a room that was decorated like a living room, with a coffee table, couches and chairs. It looked almost as if it were the interior of a family’s home, except the standard glass walls stood in place, allowing everything inside to be seen.

There was a girl, perhaps a few years older, sitting in the room on a couch. She had dark brown hair that was cut short, just above her shoulders. On the table in front of her was a mug, which she had her hand wrapped around.

Mina was pushed into the room and then the glass doors slid closed behind her automatically. She stumbled a bit before looking at the girl before her in surprise. The girl looked slightly amused at the sight of Mina, with the corner of her mouth curving upward.

“Hello,” the girl said in Japanese, leaning back against the couch. “So you’re the other one.”

The other one? Mina stood with her arms crossed, unsure of what to say to the girl in front of her. She had almost forgotten how to converse normally with someone, especially someone close to her age.

“I’m Akari,” the girl said, standing up and extending a hand. Mina’s eyes widened at the sound of the familiar name. She hesitantly took the girl’s hand shook it. So this was her infamous partner, the killer. “And your name is...?”

“Mina.”

Akari nodded. “Looks like we’ll be seeing a lot of each other nowadays. I’ve been going out on field missions on my own for awhile but they’ve told me they were preparing someone that would make the jobs go more smoothly. I think I was doing pretty well on my own but, I guess they figured I could use some company.”

Mina bit her tongue and looked down at her hands. The way Akari was staring at her intensely was making her slightly uncomfortable. “You...can do things too?” Mina finally asked.

Akari laughed, and it was a surprisingly pleasant laugh. “Yeah, I can do a lot of things. Let’s sit down,” she motioned to the couch where she had been sitting only seconds before. “We won’t be in this room often. Better take advantage of it. This couch is surprisingly comfortable. Beats that springy mattress back in my cell anyway.”

Akari sat down and looked up at Mina expectantly. After a moment Mina sat down as well, leaning against the arm of the couch, trying to put a good amount of distance between the herself and the girl sitting next to her.

“So you can hypnotize people?” Akari asked. Mina simply nodded.

“Man, if I had that power I’d be unstoppable.” The older girl smiled at Mina. “I take powers, that’s what I do. I collect them and use them as my own. I could take yours…” she said, leaning forward suddenly, causing Mina to lean farther back into her seat. “It never ends well though, for the other person involved that is. They have a habit of dying after I suck them dry.”

Akari said it so coolly and casually that Mina’s eyes widened, and she turned a ghostly shade of white. Had she simply been brought here to die? All of her training for nothing? Would she never get to see her family again?

“I’m only kidding,” Akari assured, gently reaching a hand toward Mina’s arm. The older girl’s fingers pressed against her skin and Mina could feel her skin crawl. “I need you around here. It’s nice to have someone else to talk to and suffer with. No one else understands. And besides, this room renders any power unusable, so I couldn’t take your powers even if I wanted to.”

Akari removed her hand and sat back against the couch, sighing. She stared at Mina intently again, perhaps enjoying seeing the younger girl squirm, and smiled. “I have a feeling we’re going to be great friends.”

Mina and Akari were friends in the loosest version of the word. They worked together on field missions, but that was usually all they saw of each other. Often Mina could get Akari into restricted government areas and then Akari could infiltrate information from there. Akari was not afraid to get her hands dirty, Mina would soon find out. Mina watched as the older girl ended a few lives. With fire, ice, even her bare hands, all different powers she acquired over the years. Each power represented a different life she’d taken, and although Mina thought about whom each power had once belonged to, she didn’t dare ask Akari about it.

“It’ll get easier, believe me,” Akari assured Mina, who trembled at the sight of the first man that fell to Akari’s abilities. Before Mina could stop him, Akari had lashed out. The older girl shrugged apologetically. “I felt terrible about it at first, but you can’t let yourself think about it. It’ll consume you. Focus on the mission instead. Don’t think of them as people, only targets.”

Akari kicked the man’s limp body out of the way, sliding him across the tile floor like nothing. “If you don’t, you’ll lose your mind.” 

The second death. Another man, younger this time, who got in their way. “Humans are all despicable things. They destroy and they hurt without care.” Akari was bent over the man, grasping the man’s face in her hands and sneering at him. The warm tone that Akari sometime had when speaking was gone, replaced by a cold demeanor that made Mina step back in fear. It was chilling how quickly the older girl could switch back and forth between the seemingly polar opposite personalities she carried.

“When I’m out of here I’ll hurt them all,” Akari whispered, staring down at the man’s limp body. Then, softer. “Like they’ve hurt me.”

Despite scaring Mina most of the time, Akari did look out for Mina in her own way. Mina felt a strange sort of respect and fondness for the girl; a girl, whom she would soon learn, had been held prisoner for nearly five years. Mina could not even imagine being held captive for that long, as her time of being in the facility of about a year had already seemed like a century.

The first time Mina disobeyed orders on a mission and attempted to escape, the shocks came. Her supervisors, men with hard faces and square shoulders, told her that the headset installed would be a precaution measure of sorts to keep her in line while she was outside of the building.

“Do as we say and you’ll be fine,” a man told her, face covered in shadow. “Try anything, and you’ll receive a high voltage shock. We’ll have eyes on you at all times, watching your every move. The shock isn’t deadly, but it is excruciatingly painful, I promise you that.”

She thought she could overcome the shocks. What could be more painful than staying here, a prisoner, forced to commit crimes? But the moment she tried to talk someone into giving them her car, there was a jolt so piercing it clouded her vision and consumed her thoughts, saturating them solely with pain. This pain was not red hot, but blindingly bright. White. As Mina cried out and clutched at her head, Akari watched with a frown on her face. “Don’t be stupid,” the girl muttered to Mina, after the shocks had finally stopped. She picked the younger girl up off the sidewalk where she had collapsed. The woman Mina had been talking to had backed away and eventually fled in terror at Mina’s screams and Akari’s warning glares. “You can’t escape. Do yourself a favor and do as they say.”

And so Mina did, eventually, after a few more failed attempts to hypnotize her way out of captivity. Any attempt seemed futile, and Mina could feel herself surrendering all hope with every blindingly bright shock. After all, if Akari—a girl with a handful of unexplainable powers at her fingertips—couldn’t escape, how could she?

“How could you just give up?” Mina asked Akari one day. They were returning from a mission, riding in the back of a black van. The doors were locked, preventing either girl from jumping out of the moving vehicle, and the van was made of the same material which the power-proof rooms back at the facility were made of. Had the van been normal, Akari would have surely teleported out of it by now. 

Akari regarded Mina solemnly. They had just copied some intel onto a hard drive, state secrets that Mina didn’t care to know more about or understand. There had been no fatalities this time, which was what Mina prefered. It sometimes allowed her to sleep peacefully at night.

“I haven’t, I’m just waiting for the right opportunity,” Akari whispered, eyes twinkling. “Good things come to those who wait and you know we only have one shot.”

“You have a plan?” Mina asked, heart rate increasing. She still thought of escape every day.

Akari simply winked and Mina internally groaned. The girl was way too secretive. Whatever Akari had planned, she wanted in. However, there was rarely ever a time when they could talk without being monitored and recorded.

 

They had a few private moments together in the room where they had first met, often as a reward for another successful mission. They were even given coffee or tea, and the food they were served tastes better than normal. One time, a few months after Mina had met Akari, the older girl curled herself up in a ball on the couch in this room and began silently weeping. Mina hesitated but began to rub the girl’s back soothingly.

“What is it?” Mina asked, surprised at this sudden display of emotion. Akari was always cold or sarcastic, she was never sad.

“Sometimes I worry I’ve let them turn me into a monster.”

Her words were soft beneath her tears. Mina could feel her chest tighten as her heart broke for the girl. Mina didn’t know what to say, so instead she continued to rub the girl’s back, hoping it brought her some comfort. Akari moved closer to Mina, eventually burying her face into Mina’s neck. Mina stiffened at the closeness, but relaxed slightly when the older girl’s body stopped trembling. Would Mina one day end up this way too?

This was the one and only time Mina had seen Akari cry. When they were out on the field the next day, she’d become the cold Akari who cared only about her mission. The girl Mina had seen yesterday was gone. Mina wasn’t sure which Akari was the real one, or if there was even a real Akari at all.

 

Mina was able to hold onto her sanity through Doctor Tanaka’s visits, along with the few moments where Akari looked at her fondly. Although every day she felt herself slipping further into an abyss, turning into a person she didn’t want to be. An incredible anger was boiling in the pit of her stomach. A hatred. She thought of her father. She wondered if he was even still alive.

“How did you get started in all this?” Mina asked during a session with Doctor Tanaka one day. After about a year of Korean lessons, Tanaka had moved onto teaching Mina English, which Tanaka explained would be useful for missions in the future, when Mina and Akari were moved to different countries. The doctor looked down at the table in front of her, becoming still. “How did you become involved with…” Mina’s voice trailed off.

“I wanted to serve my country,” Tanaka explained. “I love language, you know, it’s part of the human connection. It’s fascinating.” And suddenly Tanaka’s eyes lit up, as they often did when she spoke about her passion. Mina was staring at her, watching her closely. Tanaka suddenly turned to looked at Mina before she sighed and looked back down at her hands. “I thought I could do something good by doing what I loved. That’s why I’m here.”

“And are you happy?” Mina asked. “Being here, doing this?”

“I’m happy to be here with you,” Tanaka replied. “Mina, I know it might not seem like it, but you’re protecting our home. This intel is important.”

“Is that what you tell yourself?” Mina asked. “So you can sleep at night? Do you know what they’ve done to me...to Akari...the people she’s killed—” her voice broke off, and she was trembling. “I don’t want to do this. I want to go home.” Mina couldn’t stop the tears from flowing now. She buried her face in her hands, sobbing quietly.

Tanaka blinked, mouth parting, looking like the wind had just been knocked out of her. She tentatively lifted a hand and placed it on Mina’s shoulder. The girl continued to cry though, quietly, to herself. Doctor Tanaka lifted her head and looked to her right, where there were men on the other side of the glass wall, watching. They were always watching. “Mina,” Tanaka whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

Then she stood up abruptly, adjusting her blazer, trying to not look frazzled. She knew if she stayed any longer her own tears might threaten to spill, and she couldn’t have that. “I think that’s been enough for today. We’ll meet again tomorrow.” Mina looked up at her, eyes red rimmed and incredibly sad. Tanaka tore her eyes away, biting her lip. She took her things in a hurry and walked towards the door. She paused as the door slid open, but didn’t dare look back before she exited the room. 

Mina watched Tanaka go, still trembling slightly. She knew Tanaka was a good person, and that if she pushed her enough, she could be her key out of here.

Surely enough, Mina was right. The escape plot began in whispers and codes hidden in books. Scraps of paper tucked in between pages of textbooks.

“I’ll help you.” A note, written in scrawling black letters, thick and prominent, came to Mina’s attention the next day during their session. There was a small smile on Tanaka’s face as Mina looked up at her with wide eyes. There was hope after all. Mina allowed herself a small smile back.

Tanaka had no idea where to begin with breaking Mina out the facility. The security there was extremely secure, being the holding place of two mutants, they’d followed every precaution in its layout to ensure the prisoners could not escape. However, what they didn’t count on was someone on the inside working to break someone out, certainly not of their own free will.

Tanaka had thought about it of course, the risk she’d be taking in helping this girl out. This girl she’d known for nearly two years. Her life would be on the line, surely. But each session with Mina softened her heart. The girl was gentle and fragile and certainly did not deserve to be treated as a weapon. Tanaka felt a responsibility to help. She thought showing the girl kindness would be enough, but seeing Mina cry in front of her truly reminded Tanaka that the girl was human. Nothing more than a child.

Tanaka had wanted to do good. She wanted to make her parents proud. But this line of work that she’d stumbled into, been recruited for, was immoral. Each day Tanaka left the building with a bad taste in her mouth. The least she could do was set Mina free. She knew that saying that she was hypnotized wouldn’t be a stretch. If she could play dumb, she could get out of this alive. Maybe.

Akari on the other hand...the girl was unpredictable and dangerous. Mina could be dangerous too, but she did not have the capacity to kill for sport, Tanaka knew. Mina would be responsible with her powers, while Akari would not. Setting Akari lose was something Tanaka worried about, however the only chance they’d have to escape would be out in the field, when both of them were there.

More notes were exchanged. Mina would be given a time. A window to escape while out on the field. The headsets which electrocuted both Akari and Mina would go down for a short amount of time thanks to some planning and talking with like-minded employees who agreed their work was not moral. Tanaka would send someone to Mina and Akari to pry the headsets off before the electrocution function returned and they’d be free.

However, perhaps no one expected Akari’s first destination after receiving her new found freedom would be the facility once again. As soon as the headset was taken off, and Mina nearly cried with relief, Akari began walking away. 

“Where are you going?” Mina yelled. The man who had taken off their headsets was supposed to take them somewhere safe, at least temporarily, but Akari had refused passage in the car.

“There’s something I need to do,” the girl yelled back. “They need to pay for what they did.” Akari began running, taking a moment to charge her focus, and then disappeared in a flash. She could teleport, not instantaneously, but with time and energy. Mina yelled after the girl, but wasn’t fast enough to stop her. She knew where Akari was going—back to the facility where it all began.

The driver refused to take Mina back there, but Mina quickly made him think it was actually a good idea. She’d send him away as soon as they reached the destination. Have him drop her off far enough away so that he wouldn’t be caught. The drive was fast, but not fast enough.

As Mina ran up to the gate, where a guard was situated at, she found the man in uniform splayed out on the ground. She sprinted inside, past him. The side entrance of the facility was left ajar, which was never a good sign. Mina hesitantly entered, prepared to use her powers if she encountered anyone.

In the hallways of the facility she saw people splayed out everywhere. Eyes wide open in fear, mouths open mid-scream, guns bent out of shape, blood splattered near and far. Red everywhere. It looked like a scene out of a horror movie, so disturbing that it didn’t seem real. An alarm was blaring, loud and heavy, over the loud speakers, and the sirens on the walls bathed the interior of the building in a deep, flashing red. Mina fought the urge to cover her ears as she ran blindly forward. There was one person on her mind, one person she wanted to protect.

She turned down corridors, looking for anything familiar. She’d never been to this part of the building before though. Eventually she found her cell, and some of the rooms adjacent to it. She stopped short once she saw a head of long, light brown hair inside on of the side rooms, an office of sorts, with the same glass walls. A body was laid out on the floor, like all the rest, except this one was all too familiar. Mina pounded on the switch to the side of the door and it slid open, allowing her access.

“Miss Tanaka?” Mina bent down beside the woman, hand over her mouth, in an attempt to keep from gagging. Tears were forming in her eyes as they fell on the woman’s face, eyes open, glossy and unalert. Lifeless. Her neck was bent at an odd, inhuman angle.

The alarm overhead continued to blare, and Mina felt a pulse from head to toe each time it sounded, jarringly loud. She gritted her teeth and continued to stare at Miss Tanaka until her vision blurred from tears. Mina couldn’t bring herself to close the woman’s eyes, even though she knew it was the respectful thing to do.

She stood up, in shock, and backed away from the body. She turned to the sounds of crying, screaming and gunfire coming from another room. Moving towards the sounds, she saw Akari snapping the neck of an employee without so much as a flinch. Mina’s mind felt numb, and she was moving on autopilot. Stepping around a few bodies, she managed to make it to a control panel. Without second thought, she quickly closed the door to the room Akari was in and locked it. The employee had perhaps thought they were safe in a room that blocked their powers, but what they forget is that Akari was skilled in hand-to-hand combat as well. The girl didn’t need her powers to be deadly.

As the doors closed, Akari spun around and peered out from the glass at Mina, looking confused. She stepped toward Mina until she was close enough that her breath fogged the glass pane between them.

“Mina?” she asked. Her hands pressed against the clear glass window of the cell, leaving smudges. “Mina, what are you doing?” Her voice was more high pitched than usual, and lacking its normal bravado.

“Mina, let me out.” Her voice was deadpan. Her eyes, moments ago shining with madness, had cleared.

Mina hesitated, hand lingering over the button she had pushed to shut the door to the room. She had locked her in without thinking, but now the gravity of her choice began to sink in. The voice in her head was screaming and the reality of all she had just witnessed came crashing down upon her. She leaned against the control panel for her support, it was the only thing keeping her from sinking to the ground in pure disbelief and terror.

“Mina, what are you doing?” Akari repeated. Her voice rose again, unable to hide her panic any longer. “Mina, please let me out.” Mina realized that, for the first time since she’d known her, Akari was truly afraid.

Mina dropped her hand and turned away. She could see Miss Tanaka on the ground in the corner of her vision. 

“Mina!” Akari was practically spitting now. Her face turned into a mask of rage. “Don’t you dare walk away! Let me out!”

Mina stopped and spun around to face Akari again, trembling. “Akari, you just killed so many people. Innocent people.”

“They tortured us and made us puppets for years!” she yelled. “I’m giving us a chance to get out of here and be free. Don’t you understand?”

“They weren’t all bad, they were just doing their job...Doctor Tanaka was the one that orchestrated our escape!” Mina yelled back. “If you had just stuck around for another minute outside I would’ve told you and we would’ve been far away from this place…”

“Mina, you can’t be so delusional! Survival of the fittest. We have to show them what we are capable of, truly. This will send a message to their superiors. We are not to be caged like rats in a lab. We are so much more! And Doctor Tanaka? She was just another casualty...but she was as guilty as the rest of them.”

Mina was outraged. Her vision was spotted with black. “They’ve turned you into a monster. You’ve lost your humanity, Akari. Outside, in the real world with other people, what would you do? Who else would you kill? And it’d be my fault…my fault for letting you escape...”

“Are you even listening to yourself right now? Mina, I won’t kill anyone else—”

“You told me about all the things you’d do when you got out...I just can’t let that happen.”

Akari scoffed. “Mina, if you don’t let me out of here they’ll kill me. Do you understand? They’ll kill me,” she was banging on the glass now, seething.

Mina was shaking her head, backing away from the panel. She stumbled into a body on the ground and nearly cried out. It took every ounce of her self control to take a breath.

“You’ll have blood on your hands!” Akari yelled.

“I already do,” Mina responded.

Akari took a breath, and tears were beginning to visibly form in her eyes. Her anger was turning to despair. “Mina...I...I love you.”

Akari’s voice broke and Mina froze, eyes widening. “I love you,” she repeated. “I’ll protect you out there...the two of us...we’ll be unstoppable. You won’t have to live in fear...you won’t have to run. We don’t have to be afraid anymore." Akari pressed her forehead up against the glass. "You’re all I have.”

Mina closed her eyes and took a breath. She could imagine a future where she didn’t have to run, where she could live as she pleased, perhaps even see her family again. But how could she be certain Akari was telling the truth? How did she know that the moment she opened the doors that Akari wouldn’t take her powers and kill her then and there?

She could hypnotize Akari maybe, to do good and not kill anyone, but could she contain the older girl for long? What kind of life was that, moving her from one cage to another? Mina could take a chance on Akari, but what if something happened? What if someone else died? That thought scared her way more than her losing her own life. She couldn’t be responsible for someone else’s death. She just couldn’t.

Mina took a step toward the exit.

“Mina! You’ll regret this!” Akari yelled, sounding like an animal, and Mina, through her tears, managed to pull herself away, attempting to block out Akari’s screams as she walked down the narrow hallway in the direction of the open door spilling sunlight into the dim facility.


	5. Playing Dead

There was a dragging moment of silence, thick and foggy, which permeated the van. Mina had turned away to face the window and watch the buildings pass by. Nayeon was staring at the road, not daring to turn away. Dahyun was squeezing Jihyo’s hand, while Chaeyoung was leaning forward in her seat, staring up at the mirror and watching Mina’s reflection.

“So that girl, Akari, was the one who stabbed Sana?” Chaeyoung finally asked.

Mina swallowed loudly. “Yes.”

“And you’re sure?” Jihyo asked.

Mina sighed. “Yes.” There was a pause. “Shapeshifting was a power she didn’t use often. She didn’t really prefer stealth. But she had...has it nonetheless.”

“You left her there…” Nayeon mumbled.

“I did. I thought it was the right thing to do…”

“So she somehow escaped and found you? And she’s out for revenge?” Chaeyoung asked.

Mina bent her head down. “I’m sorry. I never meant for anything of this to happen. If I would’ve known...” her voice trailed off, but all the other girls knew what she meant. She would’ve let Akari out.

Chaeyoung reached forward and gripped Mina’s arm. “You couldn’t have possibly known this would happen…”

Mina bit her lip, fighting back tears threatening to spill. Memories flashed of only months ago when she left the facility. She could still hear Akari’s screams.

When Nayeon reached the school, she quickly parked and shut off the SUV. Dahyun practically jumped out when it was still moving, and Jihyo was right behind her. JYP was waiting inside at the foyer. Dahyun didn’t even need to ask before he pointed her to the medical wing, a small room that was almost never used. “She’s with Miss Suzy.”

Dahyun took off, and Nayeon and Jihyo were close behind. Meanwhile, Mina staggered forward, looking paler than normal. Chaeyoung was at her side, taking her arm and looking up at her.

“Go see her,” JYP instructed. “But when you’re ready to talk I expect a full report on what happened.”

They both nodded and Chaeyoung guided Mina forward towards the room Sana was in. When the two girls made it to the room, it was already overflowing with people, all circled around a hospital bed. Chaeyoung had to practically jump to see Sana, who had her eyes closed and was laying on her back. Momo was directly beside Sana, and Dahyun had fought her way through the crowd to Sana’s other side.

“Alright, we need space!” Suzy yelled, and all the onlookers and worried students hurriedly pushed out of the room. Chaeyoung pulled Mina closer to the bed, but the older girl couldn’t even bare to look at Sana like that; so incredibly sick and pale.

“She’s okay?” Chaeyoung asked, and everyone looked back at her. “Momo, are you—?”

“I’m fine,” Momo assured. “Sana will be too.”

Chaeyoung and Mina sighed with relief. Chaeyoung finally registered the fact that, at some point on their walk to the medical wing, Mina had taken her hand.

“She lost quite a bit of blood but I healed the wound,” Suzy explained. “She’ll just need some rest but she will recover.”

Jeongyeon was behind Dahyun, grasping the girl’s shoulders for support. Tzuyu stood quietly in the background, looking half depressed and half upset. “Someone needs to explain what happened,” she said, crossing her arms. She was still a bit angry she had missed so much, having been off by herself in the library studying. She wasn’t able to be there for Sana or Momo. Maybe she could’ve done something...maybe Sana wouldn’t be laying in this bed...

“Ask Mina,” Nayeon replied, as she snuggled into Momo, with one hand around the girl’s waist, clinging to her. Nayeon sounded tired but accusatory, and her eyes were red rimmed.

All eyes were on Mina now. She looked around from face to face before her eyes went back to the tile floor. Chaeyoung could feel her hand trembling.

“It was a shapeshifter...well, someone with many different powers. It was all a trap, she lured us in there with the HCA…” Jihyo quickly interjected, shooting Nayeon a disappointed look. “We can talk about this later, not here. All that matters is that everyone is okay.”

“Barely,” Dahyun sighed.

Mina took a step backward, shaking her head. “I’m so sorry,” she choked out and ripped her hand from Chaeyoung’s, spinning on her heel and running in the direction of her room.

“Mina,” Chaeyoung called, but she stood frozen and watched the other girl go. Each footstep reverberated on hardwood floor of the hallway.

 

Jihyo began walking down the hallway toward Mina’s room, with Nayeon and Chaeyoung close behind. After explaining more to Tzuyu, Momo and Jeongyeon what exactly had transpired at the warehouse where Sana was stabbed, Jihyo had decided it was time to go check up on Mina. Jihyo abruptly stopped a few feet away from Mina's door, clutching her chest as if in surprise.

“What is it?” Nayeon asked, grabbing the younger girl’s arm in worry.

“My powers...they’re back. I can feel…” Jihyo’s voice trailed off, and she looked over at Mina’s door. The sadness she felt coming from the room had suddenly hit her like a tidal wave. Normally Jihyo could avoid feeling the emotions of others, something she’d mastered over the years, but these feelings were so strong they could not be avoided.

“If your powers are back that means—” Nayeon quickly pulled out her neuralyzer and prepared to travel back in time. She could prevent all of this from happening.

Jihyo however reached up and grabbed her arm. “That’s too far back for you to go and you know it,” Jihyo said sternly. “Sana and Momo are fine, after all.”

Nayeon pouted but she knew Jihyo was right. Jumping more than a few hours back in time was incredibly straining and could be a bit unpredictable.

“Be gentle,” Jihyo whispered, nodding toward Mina’s door. “She’s not doing well.” Jihyo looked pointedly at Nayeon, who looked guilty and a bit ashamed under Jihyo’s gaze. She hadn’t meant to come off so coldly to Mina earlier.

There was a knock on Mina’s door, and the girl, currently wrapped in a comforter like a burrito, simply groaned. “Mina?” a voice asked from the other side of the door.

Mina didn’t respond, but continued to lay in bed in silence.

“We’re coming in.” The door opened to reveal Jihyo, Nayeon, and Chaeyoung. Mina immediately regretted not locking it.

Mina remained snuggled in her blankets, blinking back tears at the sight of her friends. She felt exposed, now that they knew so much about her and the mistakes she’d made.

“Mina, this wasn’t your fault.” That was Jihyo, always kind and understanding, under any circumstances. She sat at the edge of Mina’s bed and peered at the girl through her layers of blankets.

“Seriously,” Nayeon agreed. “I’m sorry for how I acted back there. I’m just...shaken, that’s all. When Momo gets hurt I can’t bear it...and Sana too.”

“I’ll be gone tomorrow,” Mina replied, voice muffled through her blankets.

“What?” Chaeyoung asked, stepping forward beside Mina’s bed.

“I can’t put anyone else in danger. I’ve caused enough harm.”

Jihyo clicked her tongue and slid toward Mina. She practically picked the girl up, burrito blanket and all, and set her on her lap. “You didn’t do this. Akari did.”

“And besides, if you leave we can’t protect you. You practically have a target on your back. Don’t be stupid,” Nayeon sighed.

“She’ll hurt someone else if I stay. She wants to hurt me but she’ll do that by hurting all of you first. She always loved to play games,” Mina mumbled, and Jihyo uncovered the blankets a bit so she could stroke the older girl’s hair gently.

“You can’t just leave,” Chaeyoung replied.

“She’s a threat, and we’re stronger together. The only way we can stop someone that powerful is by working together anyway,” Jihyo affirmed.

“But she can shapeshift so it’d be so easy for her to get here. She can walk right in and no one would know. And, she can teleport too—”

“Is there anything this girl can’t do?” Nayeon asked, sounding annoyed.

“She’s incredibly skilled and highly dangerous...that’s why I…” Mina’s voice trailed off.

“You had to make a tough call,” Chaeyoung said. “No one should ever be put in that position. You did what you thought was right.” She gave Mina an awkward pat on the shoulder.

Mina didn’t look convinced. “I should’ve let her out…”

“She could’ve killed you. Or more people. Maybe both. Who knows? You never would have found us anyway, if you had.” Chaeyoung responded. “You wouldn’t have ever met me.” It came out way sappier than she expected, and Chaeyoung could practically feel Nayeon making a face behind her back.

Mina was silent, continuing to look painfully sad. She avoided eye contact with anyone and looked like a little kid wrapped in her sheets.

“Stay,” Chaeyoung whispered. “Please.”

“If I do we need to figure out how we’ll stop her. She could already be here in the school for all we know, watching us…” Mina replied.

“I can at least tell if it’s her if I’m close to her,” Jihyo said. “I could read her thoughts and aura right away, even if she looked like one of us. There’s a start.”

“We just have to make sure she doesn’t block our powers again…” Nayeon responded.

“It was the gas. It was sometimes used in the facility I was held in. If the HCA has their hands on it then it’s not good, and it’s even worse if she does.”

“Let’s all go talk to JYP,” Jihyo suggested. “He’ll have a better idea of what to do.” And so Mina finally agreed to get out of bed and join the girls on their trip to the office. Mina would have the most explaining to do, after all, even though JYP knew about Akari.

 

“I hate this,” Momo said, sitting in a chair pulled up next to Sana’s bed.

Dahyun, sitting on the other side of Sana’s bed, simply nodded. Both of the girls looked miserable, and had refused to leave Sana’s side today, despite Suzy’s assurance that Sana would be fine.

“I feel like this is my fault,” Momo admitted. “Sana just came into the room right before I was about to go out grocery shopping and I didn’t think anything of it...but I should’ve known something was off when she didn’t immediately flop down on her bed like normal. She was looking at me so strangely...and the next thing I know she raises her hand and suddenly I’m freezing...so cold the world around me stops...I couldn’t even speak...and she left me there...she left me like that…and I tried to call out for someone but I couldn’t...I was so cold...”

When she was frozen, laying on the carpet floor, an image ignited deep from the recesses of Momo's mind. Something she hadn’t thought about in years. Walking around the Nakamise Market, an eleven year old Sana had stumbled upon a booth with beautiful dresses on display. Despite not having an occasion to wear one, Sana was particularly fond of one dress that was white with dark blue designs. She delicately caressed its soft fabric, staring at it with wide eyes. Momo, who had been eying some food, turned to find Sana like that. She approached her friend and stared up at the dress Sana was still holding.

Sana turned to her. “Isn’t it so pretty?” Sana gushed. Momo nodded. It was quite beautiful, but way beyond their budget no doubt. The woman working at the booth stood behind them, smiling at the two young girls.

“How much is it?” Sana asked the woman.

“5,000¥,” the woman replied. Momo could almost see Sana’s heart break. There was no way they could afford that, not with the money they earned from their street performances. They barely had enough money for food as it was. 

“Okay, thank you,” Sana replied, and let her hand drop. She took one last longing look before turning away.

Momo put a hand on her shoulder. “One day, when we’re older, I’ll buy you one-hundred dresses even prettier than that.”

Sana, whose eyes were shining with tears, smiled at Momo and grabbed her hand, swinging it in her own as they continued to walk through the market to grab something to eat.

Before Momo’s mind went blank from the cold she thought of that dress. Then there was darkness, until she heard Jeongyeon’s voice, which raised her from her slumber.

“This girl, from what Mina has said, is so dangerous,” Dahyun replied, and Momo blinked as she came back to the present. “She can look like anyone...it’s not your fault Momo. I’m so sorry you had to go through that. At the warehouse I thought it was you too until...well…” Dahyun stopped short, not wanting to conjure up an image in her mind of Sana being stabbed. “It was too late. The important thing is that you’re both okay.”

“What if she wasn’t okay though?” Momo asked suddenly, almost in a whisper. “What if she didn’t make it? She would’ve thought I was the one who did that to her. She would’ve died thinking it was me…me who killed her..” Momo buried her face into the mattress in front of her and began crying. The thought of that happening was too much to bear. Her poor Sana…

Suddenly there was a hand on Momo’s head, a soft pat. Momo lifted her head to see Sana’s eyes open, looking at her with concern, as if Momo was the one laying in the bed with an IV sticking in her arm. Dahyun was on her feet, but both of the girls around Sana were silent, unable to find the right words to express their joy at seeing she was alright.

“Are you okay?” Sana asked softly, and Momo couldn’t help but bark out a laugh as she continued to cry.

Dahyun immediately pulled Sana into a hug, squeezing tightly but not too tightly, and Sana sighed into her. “I’m so happy you’re alright,” Dahyun choked out, eventually letting Sana go to get a good look at her face.

“I remember...pain,” Sana slowly formulated her words, brow furrowing. “We were in a warehouse...looking for...Momo!” she sat up quickly and turned to face her older friend, who was kneeling down beside the bed. “We saved you!” she exclaimed.

“Yes, you saved me,” was all Momo could bring herself to say. She wouldn’t dare tell Sana all the details now, not when she was still recovering. She put on a small, fake smile, and Dahyun gave her an understanding look, a silent nod of agreement that they’d wait to tell Sana the truth.

“We make a good team Dahyun-nie,” Sana said, turning to face Dahyun, who smiled brightly as tears flowed down her face. “Please don’t cry, I’m okay,” Sana leaned forward, reaching up to brush a tear off of Dahyun’s cheek. Dahyun turned away to try to compose herself. “Is everyone else okay?” Sana asked.

Momo nodded. “Everyone is fine. You’re the only one who got a little banged up,” Momo smiled, taking Sana’s hand. “Don’t ever do that to me again, okay?”

“Well, I can’t make any promises…” Sana began, and Momo hit the girl’s arm playfully but softer than normal. “But I’ll try my best.”

“Okay,” Momo said gratefully. “That’s all I can ask for.” Momo stood up and leaned over Sana, lightly giving her a kiss on the forehead.

What Momo didn’t know is that Sana did remember being stabbed. It came back to her slowly, but it was all there nonetheless. She remembered the sharp pain, so extreme that she couldn’t even continue to stand. She’d fallen down and said the first thing that’d come to mind: “Dahyun?” And then she remembered feeling the cool cement floor beneath her, and she could hear Dahyun’s erratic talking and Nayeon’s screams, but she couldn’t make out any words. But before her vision faded out, she caught sight of Momo’s face and her narrowed, gleaming eyes. She saw the knife in Momo’s hand, but couldn’t quite process what had happened. Momo wouldn’t, couldn’t, possibly stab her best friend.

But Sana wouldn’t tell Momo she remembered, not right now anyway. She didn’t want Momo to feel even more guilty about something she didn’t do. Despite not knowing the truth surrounding that moment, Sana just knew in her heart that the girl she saw standing above her had not been Momo. Not her Momo. So instead Sana leaned back against the pillow Dahyun helped fluff behind her and let Momo gently stroke her hair as Dahyun ranted about an old, funny memory. Sana willed herself to get rid of the image of Momo with the knife from her mind.

 

Meanwhile, Tzuyu was furious, pacing the campus without any destination in particular. She still couldn’t believe her friends hadn’t brought her along. Jeongyeon had tried to talk to her, calming her down, but at least Jeongyeon had helped Momo...she hadn’t been sitting alone in the library, completely in the dark about everything that happened. Jeongyeon hadn’t had to find out that her friends were hurt through whispered gossip between students on her way back to her room.

Tzuyu felt a strange sense of guilt. What if it had been her instead of Sana? She’d have much rather taken the knife for her friend instead. Her stomach dropped at the thought of such a violent, jarring motion of a knife strong enough to pierce right through Sana’s lungs. The thought made her hands clench into fists. She was tempted to punch a wall but refrained, knowing she’d surely punch right through it. Instead, she decided to suit up and head to the training center, where she could punch a bag specialized for her super strength.

She got changed into her gym clothes and headed over, listening to some music as she pounded the bag furiously, crying out sharply with each hit.

“Tzuyu!” she heard a small cry, barely audible above her music. Then, more loudly: “Tzuyu-ah!”

Tzuyu stopped what she was doing and pulled out an ear bud. She turned around and saw Jihyo standing her hands on her hips, watching her. “Can we talk?” Jihyo asked. She had just gotten out of her meeting with JYP.

“What is there to talk about?” Tzuyu replied with a cold voice. “I know everything that happened now.”

“Hey,” Jihyo grabbed the girl’s arm softly. “Let’s sit down.”

Tzuyu looked annoyed but let the older girl lead her out of the room into an empty classroom. They sat down at the desks in the back of the room.

“I know you’re upset, about not being told what was going on sooner. And I’m sorry for that, keeping you in the dark. When Nayeon got a call that Momo was missing, we both panicked and rounded up Mina and Chaeyoung, who happened to be nearby, and as we headed for a car we passed Sana and Dahyun, so we got them to tag along too. That’s why I didn’t call or text you about Momo, we were just focused on finding her,” Jihyo spoke quickly, finally taking a breath at the end of all that. Tzuyu was silent, looking down at her hands clasped in front of her on the desk, like how she sat during class.

“I know you feel guilty, like this is somehow all your fault...like if you were there that somehow Sana would’ve been okay, but I’m here to tell you that—” Jihyo continued.

“—stay out of my head, Jihyo,” Tzuyu snapped, causing Jihyo to flinch and look hurt. 

“Tzuyu, I’m not using my powers,” Jihyo assured. “I just know you...I know who you are and I know you’d feel responsible somehow.”

Tzuyu softened up a bit but still wore a cold expression. “I could’ve helped, you know? I’m just as capable as any of you and I wish you’d stop treating me like a child.” Her voice was raising again. She normally didn’t show any emotion but the weight of what happened to Sana and Momo was hitting her hard and all at once.

“I don’t think you’re a child,” Jihyo said softly. Her large eyes regarded Tzuyu with sadness. “I know how powerful you are. Trust me, I saw the dents you were making in that bag in the gym and it’s meant to withstand any amount of force. If you were nearby I would have brought you along, honestly.”

“Really?” Tzuyu asked. She regarded Jihyo with a bit of suspicion.

“Well, I didn’t tell Jeongyeon, did I?”

Tzuyu shook her head. Perhaps she really was overthinking all this after all.

“But to be honest I’m glad you didn’t go.” Jihyo’s voice was quiet, and Tzuyu had to strain her ears to hear the older girl’s voice, which was a first. “If you got hurt I’d never forgive myself.”

Tzuyu sat in silence, staring back at Jihyo with a look of disbelief and wonder. The older girl was looking at her intensely, so brightly, that Tzuyu was forced to be the first to turn away. “You know you can’t keep me away from going out on the field, right? That’s where I’m trained to be if need be. And with this new threat, it seems we’ll need everyone to be ready.”

“You’re right,” Jihyo admitted. “I know you can take care of yourself. But, what I’m saying is this girl is dangerous. She stabbed Sana without remorse, and her face looked sadistic, like she enjoyed it. From what Mina was saying, she’s killed many people. We can’t underestimate her.”

“No,” Tzuyu replied. “We need to be ready, all of us.” Tzuyu adjusted herself slightly in the chair and took a breath. “I’ll train harder. See you around.” Tzuyu stood up and prepared to head back to the gym. Jihyo sighed as she watched the taller girl go.

 

JYP had set a game plan for everyone to follow. The school, starting now, would be on lock down. No one would be allowed to enter without being checked through the front gate. Jihyo would be alerted when someone was entering so she could give them the okay before they passed through the gate. However, there was little to be done with Akari having the ability of teleportation. The gates could not keep her out. The students could only be ready to fight. And so, over the loudspeaker, JYP announced that every student and teacher had to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity, and be ready to deal with a girl who had many powers and was incredibly dangerous. 

Mina explained to JYP the devices used to block out her powers while she was in the facility. She wasn’t sure how the technology worked, but she knew the Japanese government had developed many different kinds of power-blocking devices which Akari seemed to have her hands on. Fighting with or without their abilities was a possibility, and Akari was skilled in both. Mina also made it clear that her friends would be targets. At this point, Mina suggested her early plan of leaving, to which JYP had shot her down immediately. “Akari is a threat not only you, but to mutants and humans around the world. She’s a threat that needs to be controlled and our best chance to do this is to work together.”

Mina, though stubborn, didn’t dare question JYP’s decision. She did sulk out of the office though, and when Chaeyoung tried to walk with her Mina had politely asked for a little time alone. She needed to clear head. Walking around the school grounds would help.

Nayeon gave Chaeyoung a reassuring pat on the back. “Don’t worry, she’ll be alright,” the older girl said, as they both watched Mina head off. Chaeyoung knew Nayeon was right, but it didn’t help her feel any better. "Keep me company for a bit, will you? My girlfr—er, my Momo..." Nayeon quickly corrected herself as Momo wasn't her girlfriend yet, "won't leave Sana's side, and I want to give her some space." As much as Nayeon wanted to dote over Momo, she knew Momo needed to be with Sana and that she shouldn't interupt that. The two had a bond that Nayeon sometimes envied, but came to accept. 

A bit dejected, Chaeyoung agreed to follow Nayeon back to her room, not wanting to be left alone either. She’d find Mina soon and make sure she was okay.

 

Mina had been walking for about an hour now. At first she sat in the garden, but felt restless, so she walked the halls instead. While passing the dorm rooms, she saw Chaeyoung, standing a bit nervously outside her door.

Mina stopped at the end of the hallway, unsure about whether she should pass Chaeyoung or not, but before she could chicken out and turn around, Chaeyoung caught sight of her.

“I was looking for you,” Chaeyoung explained, a bit sheepishly. “Well, I was about to knock on your door, but I figured you weren’t in your room anyway.”

Mina closed the distance between them, standing next to the girl awkwardly. “Here I am,” Mina tried to say lightly, but her voice sounded tired and monotone instead. She felt bad about sending the younger girl off earlier when she’d wanted to be alone. Now seeing Chaeyoung brought comfort, but her restlessness still lingered. “Want to walk with me?” Mina asked.

Chaeyoung simply nodded and the two girls headed deeper into the school. Staying in stride, with Chaeyoung’s shorter legs struggling to match Mina’s pace, Mina eventually suggested sitting outside in the courtyard. They sat on a bench by the flower garden, which had easily become Mina’s favorite spot in the school.

“How are you holding up?” Chaeyoung asked, looking at Mina worriedly.

“As best as I can be, given the circumstances,” Mina replied. “I feel better knowing JYP is confident about all this. I trust his judgement, and I feel safe with all of you.”

“You’re definitely much safer here,” Chaeyoung agreed.

“I don’t think I deserve all of you...all of this,” Mina motioned to the school. “To even be here, as a student.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course you do!” Chaeyoung insisted. “Why would you even say that?”

Mina clasped her hands in front of her, bracing herself. With all this guilt rushing in, Mina couldn’t help but feel the ache of something that happened years ago, something she carried with her everyday, but tried her best to forget.

“Chaeyoung, can I tell you something?” Mina asked. She looked very vulnerable, threatening to shatter like broken glass.

“Of course, anything.” Chaeyoung scooched closer to Mina, so that their knees were touching. 

“When I left Akari at the facility she said I’d have blood on my hands; that she’d be killed after I left her,” Mina began. “And I believed it. She’d showed how dangerous she could be and so they’d have to put her down. Start over. Find another mutant.” Mina paused, biting her tongue, clearly gathering all of her thoughts. Chaeyoung leaned forward and stared at her encouragingly.

“And I said something back to her...I said that I already had blood on my hands.”

“You mean the people she hurt?” Chaeyoung asked. “The people you saw her kill? You felt responsible for it? Mina, you know it wasn’t your fault…”

“Well yes, I did feel partially responsible, but that isn’t it. Chaeyoung, I did something terrible. Even more terrible than anything I’ve told you before.” Mina turned away, looking ashamed.

Chaeyoung sat patiently, leaning forward, waiting with wide eyes.

“When I first discovered my powers, I was a senior in high school. I remember being in a boring class I hated, wanting to be done. My teacher, he was the type that always held us until the bell. Never let us out early, even though it was the last class of the day. Well, I was thinking really hard about how much I wanted to go home and just lay in my bed. So I made a wish. I wished for him to end class just five minutes early, and you know what? He stopped mid-sentence during his lecture, smiled, and announced he’d let us out early. Five minutes early. The class was so excited, and I couldn’t believe my luck. That’s what I thought it was, coincidence.”

“But then other strange things started happening. My parents didn’t bother me about school work at all. My boyfriend seemed to know everything I needed, and he’d do it without me asking. Everything I wanted was happening. I was living in a fairytale. But then it began to feel wrong...too good to be true.”

“I told my best friend at the time my suspicions—how everything I wanted was happening—and so she came up with a plan to test it. Of course, that’s when things went horribly wrong. At first, she told me to wish for this guy she liked to talk to her, and of course he did...immediately while we were in the hallways at school. We were both amazed. But then, the more I wished, the more my head began to hurt. At first it was just a headache, but then it became too overwhelming. I put two and two together and realized it had to be related to my new powers.”

“Despite it all, I kept going to school. I couldn’t miss my senior year, after all, and I didn’t want my parents to worry and start asking questions. My friend, she kept asking for things. And each time I complied, even though the pain was becoming unbearable. Eventually I told her it was becoming too much, but she got angry. She told me I was being selfish. I tried to be patient, reason with her even, but I couldn’t take it. Her voice, combined with the pounding in with my head...I just snapped. I don’t remember much about that moment, but I cried out and closed my eyes. I heard a thump, and when I opened my eyes my friend...she was on the ground. A crowd of students had gathered around us, and they were all staring at me…”

“She was just lying there...in a heap, with her eyes wide open. I fell to the ground and shook her, trying to pull her up, but...she wasn’t responsive. She didn’t move. I screamed. Someone got a teacher and the school nurse, and it was all a blur from there. I just remember someone pulling me away. My parents were called and they took me home. I told them everything…”

“My parents told me that my friend had died. She died because of me,” Mina choked out. Chaeyoung reached forward and grabbed Mina’s hands, squeezing them. Mina could feel tears welling up but she took a deep breath. “That’s when my father took me away, to try to find me help...something to stop the pain and help me control whatever it was that was wrong with me. But the kids at my school, they knew I’d caused her death somehow. I was wanted for my possible involvement, for questioning, but my parents knew what would happen to me if the government found out what I was capable of. That’s why they helped me run, and that’s how I got here.”

“Oh Mina,” Chaeyoung began softly, looking at Mina with gentle eyes. The younger girl pulled Mina into a hug and Mina didn’t hesitate to reciprocate it. She was trembling slightly as they embraced. She didn’t know why she was telling Chaeyoung all this, but it was a relief for someone else to know. No one beside her family knew about this. 

Chaeyoung nuzzled her head into the crook of Mina’s neck, and Mina could feel the warmth of her breath, it almost tickled. Mina wished she could stay like that forever. “You’re a terrible person,” Chaeyoung said, suddenly and flatly. Her mouth was only inches away from Mina’s ear at this point, and the volume of her voice sent chills down Mina’s spine. Mina went limp in Chaeyoung’s arms and her eyes widened. 

“You killed your best friend in cold blood,” Chaeyoung tsked, still wrapped around Mina. Her neck craned so that her lips were right next to Mina’s ear. “You’re a monster.”

Mina ripped herself away from Chaeyoung in shock. She certainly thought those things about herself, but she definitely didn’t expect to hear them from Chaeyoung.

“And I thought I was bad,” Chaeyoung murmured. “Holy shit.” She smirked slightly, staring at Mina with almost hungry eyes. “No wonder they locked you up with me.”

Mina jolted up off the bench and took a steps backward, heart pounding. In an instant she reached to remove the clip from her head but Chaeyoung stood too and wagged her finger back and forth.

“Not so fast,” Chaeyoung warned. “Attempt to remove that and you’re dead before you can even blink.”

Mina gritted her teeth, fighting back tears. “Just kill me, okay? Just do what you’ve come here to do but leave my friends alone.”

Chaeyoung laughed, a harsh, cruel laugh. No, it was Akari, Akari who was standing before her looking like Chaeyoung. Akari, who she’d stupidly allowed herself to open up to. Akari who now knew her darkest secret...the worst part about herself.

“That wouldn’t be any fun, would it? I said we’d talk soon, so here I am,” Akari mused, smiling at Mina.

“I don’t like...seeing her like that...please…” Mina stammered. Seeing Chaeyoung stare at her like that, with wolf-life eyes, chilled Mina to the bone. “Shift back.”

Akari walked forward, closer to Mina, and Mina stepped back. The shorter girl snickered. “What? Didn’t expect your little girlfriend here to actually speak the truth? I bet you wanted her to tell you it was all a mistake. That you didn’t mean it. That you’re still a good person, underneath it all. You wanted to hear those pretty lies to hold onto whatever’s left of your pathetic, self-righteous ego. But the truth hurts, doesn’t it Mina? It’s ugly and unkind. And now I know you’re even darker than I thought, which is just too good.” She smiled a chilling smile, and Mina had to dig her nails into her palms to stop herself from crying. She had to be strong, she wouldn’t let herself crumble in front of Akari.

“What do you want?” Mina growled.

“I came to offer you a little deal. Come with me, and no one else gets hurt. The two of us, together, we’ll recruit mutants from this school. We’ll form an army, to take down the HCA, the government too, anyone who attempts to limit the powers of mutants. We’re meant to take over, it’s evolution after all. Survival of the fittest.”

“Even if I do come with you, no one will want to join you.”

“That’s fine, I’ll just take their powers then. In that way they’ll still be supporting the cause, whether they want to or not. I’ll offer them a chance to live but if they don’t want to take it then they’re just standing in my way.”

“And if I don’t go with you?” Mina replied, shaking her head and narrowing her eyes.

“I kill all of your friends. Every. Last. One. Now, what’s your choice?”

Mina was shaking, with her hands clenched into fists. “Is there any scenario where my friends don’t die? I go with you—they’re dead because they’ll want nothing to do with you. I don’t—they’re dead too. You’re delusional.”

“Am I though?” Akari asked. “Aren’t you the one who’s out of her mind? After all, you came here expecting to make friends...to find a family!” Akari laughed. “But how could you ever expect people to welcome you with open arms when you’re a murderer? If they all knew from the start do you think they’d actually want anything to do with you?”

Mina stepped backward again but said nothing. She bowed her head.

Akari sighed. “You know, it’s funny. I spent days rotting in that cell you left me in, hating your guts. I imagined all the ways I’d kill you when I escaped. Torturing you first of course, in countless, creative ways. But now, here in front of you, where I could just end you where you stand and take your powers for my own, I can’t bring myself to do it. I can’t bring myself to kill that pretty face of yours. Pathetic, isn’t it, that after all this I’d still care about you? You make me soft.”

“If you really cared about me you wouldn’t be doing this,” Mina whispered.

“I’m doing what’s best for you,” Akari snarled. “I gave you a chance to stay with me, to be free of people trying to control you, but you threw it away. You came here, a place where you have to hide and you left me to die. And yet, after all that, you’re still all I have.”

Mina crossed her arms and looked away, thinking for a moment. She took a deep breath and stepped toward Akari, taking her hands. “Akari, think about this for a moment. You’re free of the facility. No more experiments. You’re not a puppet anymore. I know you were there for so many years...and along the way you forgot...how to be human. But now you can put that all behind you. I’ll...I’ll go with you if you promise to leave my friends alone and put this mutant v. human narrative behind you. I'll help you. We can see the world...go anywhere you want to go. You deserve to have fun and make up for those years that were taken away from you.”

Mina’s eyes were sparkling, and Akari felt, somewhere in her chest, the tug of her heart. She wasn’t used to looking up at the younger girl, but always down at her because she was naturally a few inches taller. It was strange to see her from this perspective and sounding so sincere as well. Akari could imagine the two of them together...going to Paris, a place she’d wanted to go since she was a child, or visiting the Sydney Opera House…

Akari pulled her hands out of Mina’s grasp and laughed. “This is rich, Myoui. You tell me all this now, instead of offering me this chance when you were staring back at me from the other side of that cell. The only reason you’re saying any of this is because you’re trying to protect your friends.”

“If you would’ve just got in the car with me...if you wouldn’t have gone back to the facility...if you wouldn’t have killed Miss Tanaka…” Mina tried to explain, “...then I’d be with you, somewhere in the world, doing exactly what I just said.”

Akari shook her head and closed her eyes. “You have a day to decide. I’ll be back then, ready to act on whatever you choose. You can run and tell your friends but you know you won’t win. Especially not when you see what exactly I have in store.”

“Mina?” A voice called, from the doorway of the school that opened into the courtyard and garden. Mina and Akari both turned their heads to see Chaeyoung—the real Chaeyoung—standing there with wide eyes.

Akari began to run toward the garden wall. Picking up speed, right before she collided with it, she disappeared, teleporting to wherever it was she was holed up, Mina guessed.

Chaeyoung ran out from the school to Mina’s side, practically holding the girl up as she looked like she was about to faint. “Was that…?”

“Akari,” Mina answered. “She gave me a choice, but either way I lose. We all do.”


	6. Never Ending Circles

Immediately after her run in with Akari, Mina gave Chaeyoung a brief rundown of the encounter, minus the part about Akari finding out that Mina had accidentally killed her best friend. Mina was still terrified knowing that Akari now knew her darkest secret, which she had been so forthcoming about like an idiot. How stupid could she have been to think Chaeyoung would still want to be her friend after hearing about that? 

 

Chaeyoung’s eyes widened at the explanation, and it was clear the gears in her head were spinning as she tried to formulate a plan to stop Akari. 

“She’s too strong for us to take on,” Mina assured. “She can take our powers almost effortlessly. And I have no doubt that she’ll come with some device to disable our powers as well so we won’t even be able to put up a fight. She won’t leave anything up to chance.”

“You could control her, couldn’t you, if you didn’t have your chip in?” Chaeyoung asked.

 

Mina pressed her lips together for a moment but then nodded. “I could if I ever had the opportunity.” And she was close today, too. If she hadn’t been so stupid...so naive...

 

“She said she’d be back tomorrow, right?” Chaeyoung asked again. 

 

“Yes,” Mina murmured, eyes looking dark and far away. 

“Well what if we took her on today?” 

“What...what do you mean?” Mina replied, crossing her arms. 

Chaeyoung grabbed Mina’s hand and began pulling her toward the school. “We have to find Nayeon, c’mon!” Together the two girls ran inside. 

Chaeyoung didn’t even bother knocking on Nayeon’s door. Instead she pushed it open, causing Nayeon to flinch from where she sat on her bed, facing the door. 

“Ever heard of knocking!” Nayeon yelled, but then her gaze softened after noticing Chaeyoung’s serious face and Mina’s grim one. 

“Akari was here,” Chaeyoung sputtered. “I think I know how to stop her but we need your help.” 

Mina quickly recapped Akari’s threat for Nayeon. “Okay, what do you suggest?” Nayeon asked, pulling out her handy neuralyzer. 

“Akari’s planning to come back tomorrow, right?” Chaeyoung said, facing both Mina and Nayeon. “If we try to stop her now she’ll be taken completely off guard. She won’t have any devices at her disposal to block our powers. If we stop her before she even threatens us then we will win.” 

“If I could’ve just removed my chip,” Mina replied, catching onto where Chaeyoung was going with this, “then I could’ve stopped her.” Mina looked at Nayeon with wide eyes, suddenly determined. “Nayeon, you have to go back and warn me about Akari. You have to tell me she’s in the school and that…she looks like Chaeyoung,” she said the last part quietly. “If I know that, I’ll be able to get her away from everyone without letting her know that I’m onto her. I have to pretend that I don’t know it’s her, and hypnotize her then. She’ll be taken totally off guard.” 

Time was ticking. Nayeon could really only go back comfortably in time a couple minutes. Any more than a half an hour was really pushing it. She could do this, but barely. 

“Do you think it’ll work?” Chaeyoung asked, suddenly doubting her own plan. “She’s not prepared for this sort of thing, is she?”

“I don’t think she knows about Nayeon’s powers. She must be assuming we’re planning to take her on tomorrow. Nayeon, just tell me that I’ll find Akari in front of my bedroom door. I’ll believe you,” Mina assured. “Tell me to take out my chip and then bring her back to the garden, and that I have to hypnotize her there. I can do this.” A part of Mina realized Nayeon doing this would prevent Akari from learning that she accidentally killed her best friend, which was also a blessing. Mina sighed with relief at the thought. 

“How far back should I go and where will I find you?” Nayeon asked Mina.

“An half an hour. The garden, you’ll find me there. Just be blunt with me, I’ll have no reason to doubt you.”

“Okay,” Nayeon nodded, suddenly feeling nervous that so much pressure weighed on her shoulders. “If it doesn’t work I’ll just go back again. I’ll make sure we stop her for good,” Nayeon whispered, as if to convince herself that she could do this. 

Chaeyoung and Mina nodded at Nayeon, letting her know they were ready. “Okay,” Nayeon murmured again. She thought of the time she wanted to go back, closed her eyes and quickly activated her neuralyzer with a click. The jump was always a bit disorienting, but she was back in her room, sitting with Chaeyoung as she had been only thirty minutes ago. 

“I’m just worried about her, you know? I just can’t imagine what it’d be like—”

“—I gotta stop you there,” Nayeon exclaimed, jumping off her bed. “I’ll explain later, but I need to find Mina! Stay here! I’m serious, don’t move!” and with that, Nayeon was out the door, leaving a very confused Chaeyoung sitting cross-legged on Jeongyeon’s bed.

Nayeon ran as fast as she could for the garden, ignoring all the strange glances she received from other students she passed. By the time she made it outside she was panting, but sure enough there was Mina, walking by herself, facing away from her. “Mina!” Nayeon cried, willing her legs to carry her further. 

Mina spun around and looked at Nayeon in alarm. Nayeon was disrupting Mina’s peaceful walk spent gathering her thoughts. A walk she desperately needed.

“This is gonna sound crazy but I just came from the future. Akari is here, now! And she looks like Chaeyoung. She’s gonna threaten all of us. She’ll be back tomorrow for blood if we don’t stop her today. You’ll find her outside of your room in the hallway. You need to take off your chip now and hypnotize her while she thinks you don’t know it’s her!”

Mina continued to wordlessly stare at Nayeon in alarm. Nayeon huffed at the girl’s intense silence and took Mina by the shoulders and shook her, trying to snap her into her senses. “Listen, in a few minutes you’ll bring her out here, to the garden, and you’ll talk to her. You’ll pretend you’re talking to Chaeyoung, but we both know that’s not true. You’ll hypnotize her when she least expects it. You’ll stop her here and now!”

Mina pulled out her chip and placed it in her pocket without a word. “Okay,” she gulped, feeling her heart starting to pound already. “She looks like Chaeyoung, and she’s in front of my room?” 

“Yes! Go find her, she’ll be there now!” Nayeon urged. “I’ll be waiting out here, hidden. I’ll make sure you’re safe. If anything goes wrong…”

“You’ll go back in time, got it,” Mina assured, gritting her teeth. She began walking quickly toward the school, feeling a shallowness in her breath. An intense fear overcame her as she thought about the future Nayeon had come from. What had happened that caused Nayeon to travel back in time? Maybe Mina didn’t want to know. She pinched the inside of her left palm as she walked closer to the girl’s wing, trying to calm herself. She wasn’t ready to face Akari so soon, yet she had no choice. 

Sure enough, she could see Chaeyoung’s silhouette at the end of the hallway, in front of her door. Mina stepped forward, quickly approaching the girl. Was she sure this was really Akari and not the real Chaeyoung?

Chaeyoung heard the older girl approaching and turned to look at her with a small smile on her face. “I was looking for you,” Chaeyoung explained, a bit sheepishly. “Well, I was about to knock on your door, but I figured you weren’t in your room anyway.”

Mina closed the distance between them, standing next to the girl awkwardly. “Here I am,” Mina chided, trying to mask any unease in her voice. “Want to walk with me?” she asked. She’d take Akari out to the garden and get this over with there, just as Nayeon said.

Chaeyoung simply nodded and as the two girls walked for a few minutes, mostly in silence, Mina suggested sitting outside in the garden. “It’s rather warm outside,” Mina mused. “It’s a nice day for sitting out in the sun, I was just out there.” Once outside, they sat on a bench at the far end of the garden, which had easily become Mina’s favorite spot in the school. 

Despite being in her favorite place, Mina felt like someone was suffocating her, though she didn’t dare show it. She was sitting next to a girl who probably wanted nothing more than to kill her and her friends and the thought made Mina feel faint.

“How are you holding up?” Chaeyoung asked, looking at Mina worriedly. It was scary how well Akari was playing Chaeyoung. Mina could easily see herself falling for this trap if Nayeon hadn’t warned her in the first place. In another timeline, one where Nayeon didn’t appear from the future, Mina must have taken the bait. Mina wondered what she had done then, and how long Akari played this game until she actually revealed herself. Mina nearly shuttered at the thought.

 

Trying to make herself seem comfortable, Mina folded her hands in front of her. “As best as I can be, given the circumstances,” Mina replied. She didn’t say anything else, but simply bit her lip and tried her best to continue making eye contact with the girl sitting beside her. They were so close that their knees were almost touching, and Mina had to fight the urge to slide away in disgust. 

Nayeon was watching from behind a bush nearby, positioned so that she could go back in time at any moment. Come on Mina, what are you waiting for? She thought to herself, watching the girl that looked like Chaeyoung stare at Mina knowingly. 

“You must’ve been so scared, seeing her—” Chaeyoung began, but was promptly interrupted by the sound of the door to the school opening. Nayeon swore to herself as Chaeyoung, the real Chaeyoung, appeared. Chaeyoung froze as soon as she saw Mina sitting next to someone who looked just like her. 

“Mina?” Chaeyoung replied, a bit helplessly, hand curling into a fist, staring at the imposter next to Mina with dark eyes. 

Mina looked back and forth between the girls, reminding herself what Nayeon had told her. Before Mina even had time to think, Chaeyoung, standing by the door, suddenly dropped to the ground, groaning in agony. Akari, beside Mina, suddenly stood up and had her arm outstretched toward the younger girl on the ground. “We can’t have anyone interrupting our important conversation,” Akari snapped. “Mina, don’t even think about using your powers or her head explodes.” 

Mina’s mind went blank as she watched helplessly as Chaeyoung wailed and gripped at her head, writhing in pain. Mina stood up from the bench, nearly falling over at the sudden wave of terror that washed over her—

CLICK.

—“I’m just worried about her, you know? I just can’t imagine what it’d be like to be in that situation in the first place, held like a prisoner for over a year—”

“—ughhhhhh,” Nayeon groaned, running a hand through her hair in frustration and causing Chaeyoung to widen her eyes in alarm. The jump left Nayeon feeling slightly queasy. Two jumps within a short span of time always did. “Dammit Chaeyoung,” Nayeon muttered. “When I tell you to stay put, stay put, okay?” Nayeon jumped off her bed and put both hands on her head, grabbing her strawberry colored hair in annoyance and pulling slightly. 

Before Chaeyoung could ask what the heck Nayeon was talking about the older girl held up a hand. “I need to go and find Mina. I’m here from the future. Something happened with Akari and I need to stop her. The only one who can do that is Mina. But this time, you need to stay in here in my room for at least an half an hour, alright? I’ll text you when it’s safe to leave…”

“Nayeon, you need to tell me what’s going on.”

“I don’t have time to explain, I will later though, I promise. I’m serious, you better stay here. If you don’t you could die...or Mina could,” and with that, Nayeon was out the door, leaving a very confused and slightly scared Chaeyoung sitting cross-legged on Jeongyeon’s bed.

Nayeon could really feel the strain from the jump now. Her limbs felt like jelly, as if they hadn’t completely solidified yet in this time. Nevertheless, she made her legs move faster than she thought possible as she headed toward the garden. 

“Mina!” Nayeon cried when she spotted the girl once again. This time she cried out with more desperation. 

Mina spun around and looked at Nayeon with alarm—the same expression Nayeon had seen only minutes earlier. 

“Look, Akari is here in the building and she looks like Chaeyoung. I know this sounds crazy but I just came from the future, so I know these things, alright? She’s planning on getting you alone and then threatening all of us. She’ll be back tomorrow to kill us all if you don’t stop her here and now, okay? She’s outside of your door in the hallway. You need to take off your chip so you’ll be ready to hypnotize her while she thinks you don’t know it’s her!”

Mina continued to wordlessly stare at Nayeon in alarm with that same, aggravating look of disbelief on her face. Nayeon felt like shouting at the girl but internalized it, grabbing Mina’s shoulders and shaking her like she did before. “Myoui Mina, listen to me, in a few minutes you’ll bring Akari out here, to the garden, and you’ll talk to her. Humor her for a bit, but not for long. Hypnotize her when she least expects it. You need to stop her now Mina, you can’t hesitate! If you do, Chaeyoung could die.” Nayeon took a breath and removed her hands from Mina’s shoulders. “I know you feel some sense of guilt or whatever for this girl, but you need to put that behind you. Remember what she did to Sana and Momo, you don’t want her doing that to anyone else, do you?” 

“N-no,” Mina whispered. She carefully pulled the chip out of her head and placed it in her pocket. “I don’t want anyone else getting hurt,” she gulped, feeling her heart starting to pound already. “I’ll do it.”

“You need to do it as soon as she’s out here. As soon as you sit down, do...whatever it is you do. Put her under your spell.”

Mina nodded. Instantly her mind ran through a list of possibilities, as there were so many things she could do to Akari. There was one thing she knew that was the easiest and quickest way to put the older girl out, and so Mina went with that as her plan. She solidified it in her mind as she crossed the garden and entered the school once again, heading for the girl’s wing. 

Sure enough, she could see Chaeyoung’s silhouette at the end of the hallway, in front of her door. Mina stepped forward, quickly approaching the girl. Was she sure this was really Akari and not the real Chaeyoung? How did she know the girl that called out to her wasn’t actually Akari, and that this was all a trap? She bit her tongue to stop her world from spinning.

 

Chaeyoung heard the older girl approaching and turned to look at Mina with a small smile on her face. She looked so much like Chaeyoung... “I was looking for you,” Chaeyoung explained, with a sheepish smile on her face, not quite making eye contact. “Well, I was about to knock on your door, but I figured you weren’t in your room anyway.”

 

Mina quickly closed the distance between them, standing next to the girl awkwardly. “Here I am,” she chided, trying to mask any unease in her voice. Could Akari see right through her? “Want to walk with me?” Mina asked. She’d take Akari out to the garden and get this over with there, just as Nayeon said.

Chaeyoung simply nodded and as the two girls walked for a few minutes, mostly in silence, Mina suggested sitting outside in the garden. Once outside, they sat on Mina’s favorite bench.

“How are you holding up?” Chaeyoung asked, looking at Mina worriedly.

Before Mina could respond, she thought the simple word, sleep, directing it toward Akari. The girl on the bench fell backward, slumping back against the bench until she slid off the bench and landed onto the ground with a thud. Her eyes were closed.

Mina stood up abruptly and Nayeon emerged from the bushes. “You did it,’ Nayeon uttered, staring down at the girl lying on the grass with wide eyes. “Mina, you did it!”

The sound of a door opening echoed through the space and Nayeon and Mina’s heads snapped to the door. There was Chaeyoung, the real Chaeyoung, looking at the both of them with wide eyes. She came running over in record speed. 

Mina breathed a sigh of relief as Chaeyoung simply stood staring in shock down at the girl on the ground before her. “Akari?” Chaeyoung asked. Before Mina could respond Chaeyoung turned to Nayeon. “Was that what your running off was about?” 

“Yes,” Nayeon confirmed. “Sorry about that. I came from the future to warn Mina that Akari was here. Twice, may I add, because some people don’t know the meaning of stay put. Seriously Chaeyoung, what did I tell you a few minutes ago? If you came any earlier Akari would’ve had you writhing on the ground like last time.” 

“Sorry,” Chaeyoung apologized. “But how can you expect me to stay put after dropping a bomb like that? Is she dead?” Chaeyoung asked. 

“No,” Mina breathed. “Asleep. I think I know what to do with her though. Something I should’ve done before. I can make sure she never hurts anyone again.” Chaeyoung’s eyes widened at that and she quickly grabbed Mina’s arm. 

“Wait, Mina…are you sure you want to...”

“I’m not going to kill her,” Mina assured. “I’m going to try to erase her memories, all of them. That way she won’t remember all the terrible things that happen to her. She won’t remember any of it. She won’t remember me…” her voice trailed off. 

“Are we sure we shouldn’t just...take care of her?” Nayeon asked. “Even if you wipe her memories, she’s still dangerous with her powers alone, isn’t she? I won’t let her hurt anyone again, even accidentally…”

Even accidentally. That hit Mina hard. She couldn’t help but think back to her past. Her friend...her best friend...she’d hurt someone—killed someone—accidentally. If Nayeon knew that would she want Mina dead too?

Mina fought the tears that suddenly came to her eyes. “I can’t do that to her,” Mina whimpered. “I just...I can’t do that.” She sank to the ground slowly, staring at Akari’s limp form. 

“I’m gonna call JYP,” Chaeyoung replied. “Before we make any decisions, he’ll know what’s best.”

“Okay,” Nayeon agreed. “Good idea.” 

Chaeyoung pulled out her phone and pulled up his office contact, waiting patiently as the phone rang. As he picked up, Chaeyoung tried her best to calmly explain that they had Akari, asleep, in front of them. In a few minutes, JYP appeared, walking quickly toward the three girls still standing around Akari. 

“She’s just asleep but we’re not sure what else to do…” Mina explained. “I thought, maybe I could just wipe her memories. She wouldn’t be a bad person then, after all. She wouldn’t remember the facility. What was done to her...any of her training...”

“But she’s still a threat, right?” Nayeon challenged, looking squarely at JYP. “Don’t you think we should…”

“Mina, if you do that, we will be responsible for her. We can’t let her out of our sights. She must stay here, where we can teach her to control her powers again. She’ll be scared and confused. We’ll have to fabricate a story, give her another life, so that she has no chance of remembering her old one. Can you assure me that you can keep her under control?” JYP asked.

Mina looked down at Akari, and then back at JYP. “Yes,” she nodded firmly. “I can.” 

“Alright, well I’ll have another room prepared for her then.” JYP bent down and picked up the girl up off the ground. “For now we need somewhere comfortable for her while you erase her memories.”

“My room,” Mina replied. “She can use my bed for now, she won’t be out for much longer anyway.” 

JYP nodded and began carrying Akari back toward the school with the three girls wordlessly following behind. Chaeyoung ran to hold the door open for him and he nodded in thanks. They walked down the corridor in silence, and a few onlookers watched with puzzled expressions. Mina rushed ahead to unlock her room, opened the door, holding it open for JYP, and flipped on the light. JYP delicately set the girl down on the bed. “Once the room is prepared for her I’ll let you know,” JYP said as he backed away and exited the room, leaving the three girls alone with Akari. 

“Well,” Nayeon replied, sounding slightly bitter. “If she gets out of hand and hurts anyone else I’ll never forgive you, Mina.” There was a pause, and a heavy silence hung in the air. Mina could practically feel the outrage radiating off of Nayeon. “Better get to it then.” She left the room and closed the door behind her. 

Chaeyoung studied Mina’s face but it was a mask; completely neutral. “I think this is the right thing to do. It’s not completely her fault she turned into a monster. This is like a second chance for her.” Chaeyoung took a breath and turned to face Akari again. 

“This is...creepy,” Chaeyoung confessed, staring at the girl on the bed. “Seeing her, looking like me,” Chaeyoung explained. Mina nodded in understanding. Mina had felt the exact same way earlier today, back at the warehouse, when Akari had shifted to look like her while holding the bloody knife. “Why me?” the younger girl couldn’t help but ask. Why had Akari chosen her to look like?

Mina sighed. “She just wanted to get close to me...I guess she figured you were the best way to do it.” 

Chaeyoung didn’t respond, but moved closer so that she was standing next to Mina. “So she’ll forget everything, even her own name?” 

Mina nodded. “Everything. I’ll teach her to be good. I won’t let her hurt anyone else.” Her eyebrow furrowed slightly as her hand began moving in small motions, pointed at the girl’s head. She focused on Akari’s face, and thought exactly what she wanted to happen. After an half a minute, Mina stopped and dropped her hands. “Okay, she shouldn’t remember anything anymore.” Mina blinked and suddenly Akari moved slightly, as if shivering, and then her skin turned into tiny scales, flipping back, and revealing her true form in an instant. Mina held her breath as she stared at the Akari she knew so well. 

Chaeyoung’s eyes widened, seeing the girl in front of her shift. So this was Akari, the real Akari. She had long, straight, dark brown hair and a pleasant face. Lying on the bed, she looked peaceful and not at all dangerous. But Chaeyoung wouldn’t let herself be fooled. “I’m going to wake her up now,” Mina warned. “She won’t know who either of us are. We’ll have to explain.”

“What’s the story?” 

“She’s an orphan, like Sana and Momo. She’s been at the school for years but she was in a car accident. That’s how she lost her memory?” Mina suggested. “We’re her friends with her Chaeyoung. For all intensive purposes. We need her to trust us, so we have to tell her that.”

Chaeyoung’s stomach dropped at the thought of playing nice with Akari, but she nodded. Mina took a deep breath and focused on Akari. The girl’s eyes suddenly fluttered open and Chaeyoung reflexively took a step back. It took a moment for the girl’s eyes to come into focus before she gasped and looked around. When her eyes found Mina, she looked very confused. 

“Hello,” Mina said softly and gently. “Don’t be scared. You were in an accident. Can you tell me what you remember?” She was going off of dramas she’d watched on TV, but she was pretty sure that’s what a doctor might say to someone waking up from trauma. 

“What? An accident?” the girl replied. Akari’s voice sounded surprisingly small and light. Chaeyoung watched her closely and skeptically. “I...I don’t...I don’t know where I am. Where am I? Who are you?”

“I’m Mina, and this is Chaeyoung,” Mina motioned to the younger girl. “We’re your friends. We’ve been so worried about you. But you’re alright. You just suffered some trauma to the head from the accident. You’re in my room right now, at JYP’s school. Does none of this sound familiar?”

Akari slowly shook her head, looking quite scared. She reminded Chaeyoung of a fawn. How was this the same girl who stabbed Sana, nearly froze Momo to death, and killed countless other people? 

“No...I...I can’t even remember...can you tell me...my name?” the girl was clearly shaken. Her eyes were wide, and she was hugging herself as it was all she could do to keep herself from falling into pieces.

“Akari,” Mina whispered. “It’s Akari.”


	7. Keep You On My Side

“I just hate the thought of her being here...sleeping in a room in the same hallway as you,” Nayeon hissed. “What if Mina’s hypnosis didn’t work at all? What if Akari is just playing dumb, looking for her perfect opportunity to strike? What if she remembers randomly who she actually is and kills everyone here? What if—”

 

“—Nayeon,” Momo interrupted, placing a soft hand on the older girl’s shoulder. “Relax.”

 

“How can I relax knowing the girl who nearly killed both you and Sana is being treated like she’s some innocent girl who’s never done anything wrong in her life? How can I be expected to just welcome her with open arms?” Nayeon’s voice was rising. Momo was in Nayeon’s room, and the two of them were sitting down on her bed with their legs dangling over its edge. 

 

“She didn’t kill us, okay?” Momo responded. “I’m here. Sana’s here. We’re fine.” Her voice was soft yet firm, and Momo snuggled up next to Nayeon in an attempt to calm the redhead down. 

 

“I swear to God, if she so much as lays a finger on you…” Nayeon’s voice was a growl.

 

“Hey,” Momo wrapped her arms around Nayeon and pulled her closer. “Shush. Don’t you know what they say? ‘Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.’”

 

“Whoever ‘they’ are have surely never had to deal with someone like her. Momo, she can kill someone in seconds. She almost killed Chaeyoung in another timeline...all she had to do was lift a finger and she had Chaeyoung on the ground screaming in pain.” 

 

“We’ll make sure she never hurts anyone again,” Momo assured. “Mina’s keeping a close eye on her...we all are.”

 

That still wasn’t enough for Nayeon. She huffed and pouted. Momo laughed at the sight. She always found "angry Nayeon" to be incredibly cute. She reached out and pinched the girl’s cheek and the older girl sighed but didn’t push her hand away. 

 

“I’m sorry, I’m just worried. Last week when you were hurt...I’ve never been more scared in my life.” Nayeon let herself lean back into Momo, feeling comfort in her closeness.

 

“I was scared too...wanna know why? Because I thought I’d never get the chance to ask you out,” Momo giggled shyly, and Nayeon immediately blushed. 

 

“Ask me out? Like...officially?” Nayeon stuttered. Momo nodded. “Like you and me...together...as a couple?” 

 

“Only if you want that,” Momo replied. She was watching Nayeon’s face closely as her heart pounded loudly in her chest. 

 

“Yes...of course!” Nayeon exclaimed, nearly squealing. She twisted around and embraced Momo and the two girls laughed. 

 

“You seem surprised,” Momo said. “Is it really that surprising that I’d ask you out?”

 

“I thought I’d have to be the one to ask,” Nayeon admitted. “I was going to...soon. I was just nervous.”

 

“Well I’m glad I beat you to it,” Momo teased. Nayeon slowly moved her lips closer to Momo’s before she kissed her quickly on the cheek. A fake-out. 

 

“Hey!” Momo whined causing Nayeon to laugh evilly. Momo pouted and Nayeon continued to smile at her. The strawberry haired girl scooted backward on her bed so that she was leaning against the headboard. Momo watched curiously as Nayeon beckoned her to come closer. She did as she was told, crawling forward until their faces were only inches apart. The air was almost electric between them. 

 

Finally Nayeon put her arms around Momo’s back, pulling her closer and extinguishing the distance between them. The kiss was just what both girls expected it to be, soft and sweet. They remained like that for a moment before they heard loud, slow clapping sounding from only a few feet away. Momo and Nayeon turned toward the source of the noise to see Jeongyeon standing in a now open doorway. She wore a cheeky grin on her face and continued to clap.

 

“Finally!” she cheered. “I can’t believe one of you finally stepped up. Was it you Nayeon? I bet Tzuyu 6,000₩—”

 

Jeongyeon was interrupted by a pillow flying across the room like a bolt of lightning, striking the blonde haired girl in the face. “Yoo Jeongyeon!” Nayeon roared. “Get out!”

 

Jeongyeon simply laughed. “Okay, okay, I see where I’m not wanted. Have fun you two.” She tossed the pillow back onto Nayeon’s bed and began closing the door. “But wait, seriously Momo, did Nayeon ask you out or—”

 

“Get out!” Nayeon yelled again. Jeongyeon simply laughed but she did as she was told, closing the door shut with a satisfying click. 

 

Momo and Nayeon turned back to each other with newly reddened faces. They both smiled. “Okay, let’s try that again,” Nayeon murmured. This time it was Momo who closed the distance between them. 

 

Having Akari around, trailing Mina like a shadow, was a little strange for Mina to get used to at first. A sense of paranoia filled the atmosphere and Mina couldn’t seem to relax. Perhaps that was a good thing. After all, it was possible Akari could suddenly remember everything without hesitation and attack. Someone had to be alert at all times—and JYP had entrusted this responsibility to Mina. 

This is why Mina made the choice to not have her chip in until she was sure that Akari could be trusted. Because of this, Mina had to really focus on controlling any emotions or feelings she could have. She had learned to use her chip as a crutch while here at JYP’s—she was able to think about things normally and without hesitation—but now she’d be forced to put up a wall. 

Akari was timid at first after her memories were wiped, but she asked a lot of questions. She’d seemed to gravitate toward Mina, perhaps because she was there when she’d woken up. Mina had to come up with many details to answer her endless questions on the spot. Akari mostly asked Mina what she knew of her past—her parents, if she had any siblings, where she was born. It was easy for Mina to lie and say that she knew very little, which indeed was the truth. Akari had told Mina nothing about herself when they were stuck together in the facility. All Mina told Akari now is that she knew Akari was an orphan, and she’d come to JYP’s school around the age of 15. 

Every one of Mina’s friends was clued in on Akari’s backstory, so they all had their facts straight in case the older girl approached them with curiosity. Everyone else in the school had been informed about Akari’s situation, knowing to give her space and to lie when necessary. They had to really sell her past if this plan were to be successful. They had to be convincing. However, Akari had rarely talked to anyone except Mina for the first week she was a student at JYP’s school anyway. Chaeyoung had joined Mina and Akari almost every day for lunch, as had Jihyo and Jeongyeon ocassionally, but everyone else had kept their distance so that there were only polite smiles and “hellos” exchanged. It was clear there was a tension building between the friends now that Akari was brought into the fold.

Mina had introduced everyone to Akari over the course of that first week, even a tight-lipped, clearly agitated Nayeon, who had simply grumbled and walked away. 

“She doesn’t like me much...does she?” Akari had asked Mina, watching Nayeon walk away with a sad expression on her face. 

Mina’s eyes widened in horror. “What? No! Please excuse her behavior, she must be tired. Sometimes she can be a bit moody and lately—”

“Mina, you don’t have to sugarcoat everything. You can be honest with me. After all, not everyone we encounter in life will like us, right?” Akari replied, smiling fondly at Mina. 

“Yes, I suppose you’re right. The truth of the matter is...things between you and Nayeon are complicated. Things happened in the past but...this is a new beginning. I’m sure she will get over it in time.”

Akari nodded slightly. “I hope so. I can’t help but feel guilty for whatever it is I did to her. I wish I could remember, that way I could make it right. It’s so frustrating, not being able to remember anything. I feel like I’ve lost myself.”

“I’ll do my best to help you find yourself again,” Mina replied, reaching over and gently patting Akari’s arm. “Now, let’s get something to eat.”

Akari had moved into a room across the hall from Mina and next to the room Jihyo, Jeongyeon and Nayeon shared. Despite being so close to everyone, most of the girls had managed to avoid Akari, and by default Mina as well.

Mina and Akari normally ate lunch together in the library, avoiding the courtyard and garden where the other girls normally ate. Mina figured this was for the best, although she yearned to be back with her friends. Having to watch over Akari all the time was isolating her from them, but it was a responsibility she knew had to be hers. No one else would treat the older girl with as much patience and kindness. To be honest, sometimes Mina didn’t quite understand why she did so herself. 

A part of Mina knew though that Akari had been subjected to torture and cruelty at a young age, and that no one should be put through something like that. After all, if Mina had been in the facility for a few more years, who knew what that would've done to her psyche. Perhaps she would’ve broken and become just as much as a monster as Akari had become. Like it or not, Mina and Akari shared a bond that no one else shared. 

Today at lunch, Akari began asking Mina about her. “I’ve been asking so many questions about myself...but I know nothing about you,” Akari began. “So tell me, what was your childhood like?”

“It was nice,” Mina replied, smiling fondly at the memory of her family. “My parents were well off so I was lucky. There was so much love and laughter. My brother and I were so spoiled. We lived in a house outside of Osaka...oh, that’s right, I forgot to mention that I’m from Japan. I think you were born there too.”

“I have a vague recollection of the language,” Akari said in Japanese, to which Mina smiled. “But Korean feels more comfortable for me to speak. I think it’s because, from what you’ve said, I’ve lived here for a long while.” 

“It’s becoming more comfortable for me to speak as well,” Mina agreed.

“So what brought you here to Korea?” Akari asked, leaning so that her head was propped up by her hands, elbows resting on the wooden table.

Mina adjusted in her seat, suddenly not liking the attention on her. “It wasn’t safe for me in Japan anymore. There are people who want to hurt people like us because we’re different. My parents thought it’d be best for me to come here, to this school specifically, where I’d be safe.” It was a bit of a stretch, but it was close enough to the truth. Akari didn’t need to know about the facility. 

“Hello!” a voice chirped, and Mina looked up with a bit of surprise and also relief to see Sana standing next to their table with a plate and cup in hand. “Mind if I sit?” Sana looked from Akari to Mina. 

Akari happily shook her head. “Not at all, please sit!”

Sana sat down at the empty seat next to Mina. This was the first time that Sana had really come anywhere near Akari, other than their initial introduction. 

“What brings you to the library?” Mina asked.

“I figured I’d join you two for a change. Akari, I wanted to see how you’ve been doing,” Sana replied. 

“I’ve been doing as well as I can be, with losing my memories and all,” Akari answered with a playful tone. It was light but there was still an air of seriousness to it; an air of pain. “But really I’m loving it here. This place is gorgeous, and it feels so tucked away; like we’re in our own little world.”

“We don’t go out much, no,” Sana said. “It’s for our own safety, but at least we have each other!”

“Mina mentioned that there’s people who want to hurt us…” Akari inquired. She looked at Sana expectantly for an explanation. 

Sana made eye contact with Mina, slight hesitation, before the younger girl nodded slightly, giving Sana permission to answer, and Sana cleared her throat. “Yes, they’re called the HCA. They believe that mutants like us pose a threat to their species. That’s why we live here at the school, JYP offers us protection. That’s also partially why we train, not only to control our powers but to prepare for any sort of threat these people may pose.”

“They hurt mutants?” Akari asked.

“Yes, they kill them...us,” Mina answered. “They want to get rid of us all.”

“Is that who you were running from then?” Akari turned to Mina, looking at her sharply. “Did they find you?”

 

“No, it was another group. I’m afraid the HCA isn’t the only threat to us. Some people want to take advantage of our powers and use us for their personal gain.” The answer was vague, but it was all Mina could afford to give. Akari seemed to be satisfied with that though, because she stopped asking questions. 

For the rest of the lunch period, Akari inquired about more things about herself, and asked Sana questions about her own life. Sana was happy to oblige, and at one point the three of them were even laughing. Mina felt more at ease, knowing that even though Sana had every right to hate Akari she was still giving her a second chance. 

After Mina and Sana walked Akari to the gym, where JYP was spending one on one time with her teaching her to control her powers, Mina grabbed Sana’s wrist gently and stopped her before she could head off to her separate class. 

“Thank you,” Mina said. “I know it must be hard but—”

“—there’s no reason to thank me,” Sana assured. “I want to make sure she feels happy here. We need to make sure she has no reason to feel left out or else she’ll really be suspicious. Besides, I believe in second chances.” Sana smiled dazzlingly at Mina and the younger girl dropped the Sana’s wrist. “You should bring her out to the courtyard for lunch next time. I’ll sure she’ll love it outside. I’ll get Dahyun to join us, and I’m sure Chaeyoung and Jihyo will too.”

The next day, Mina did as Sana said and brought Akari to the courtyard. They sat at an empty table, being the first ones there. However, Akari suggested that they eat under the shade of the large oak tree in the grass, and Mina happily obliged. Nayeon and Momo were the second ones to arrive. Nayeon took one look at Akari and pulled Momo roughly toward another table. Momo gave Mina an apologetic glance before she let herself be dragged by Nayeon. Jeongyeon and Jihyo arrived shortly after, glancing between the Nayeon and Momo and Mina and Akari. Jihyo made the choice to join Akari and Mina, and Jeongyeon shrugged and joined them as well. Akari looked delighted to be outside for lunch, and happily chatted as Jihyo and Jeongyeon sat down.

“The food here is so good,” Akari praised after taking a bite of her pasta. 

“Yeah, we’re lucky we have great chefs,” Jihyo agreed. “They try to mix things up every week.”

Tzuyu and Chaeyoung arrived at the courtyard. “Great,” Tzuyu muttered under her breath, clearly uncomfortable with the divide that was forming. “I’m going to go with Momo and Nayeon.” Despite Tzuyu having not seen Akari’s attack against Sana or Momo, the younger girl was very much against the idea of Akari being here. It wasn’t that she felt unsafe herself, but she was scared for the safety of her friends. 

Chaeyoung took note of how happy Mina looked, sitting next to Akari. Mina was watching Akari speak, animatedly talking about something. Mina's eyes were shining, watching Akari. Chaeyoung’s stomach dropped. “I’ll join you,” she replied and walked fast to catch up with her tall friend. Nayeon raised a brow as Chaeyoung set her tray down next to Momo’s but the redhead said nothing.

Mina saw Chaeyoung and Tzuyu enter the courtyard. After Akari was done talking Mina turned her head slightly, seeing Chaeyoung walking toward Nayeon and Momo. Mina watched as the short girl set her tray down at the table across the courtyard. Mina felt a pit in her stomach as she watched Chaeyoung sit down, but Akari said her name softly, snapping Mina’s attention back to the conversation happening in front of her. 

“I can’t stand this,” Nayeon muttered, watching Akari’s group in the grass. They were smiling. Laughing. It made Nayeon sick. 

Chaeyoung looked from afar with a neutral expression, but there was a bit of darkness behind her eyes. Akari was awfully close to Mina...their knees were touching as they laid out in the grass. Akari was looking at Mina with a look that was awfully familiar…

“Woah, easy there tiger,” Nayeon said, staring at Chaeyoung’s white knuckles as she gripped her plastic fork harder. “We can’t be too obvious and make her snap, remember? We’re walking on a tightrope now and if one of us loses our balance we’re all going to fall.”

“Nice metaphor,” Chaeyoung observed. She relaxed her hand and scooped another bite of mac and cheese into her mouth. “I don’t like this either, but there’s nothing we can do about it.” 

Nayeon crossed her arms and pouted, knowing the younger girl was right. 

“She’s so pretty, isn’t she?” Momo remarked, obviously not paying any attention to what was just said. 

Nayeon looked offended, looking back and forth between Momo and Akari “Yeah, when she’s not...you know...trying to freeze you to death or stab Sana,” Nayeon scowled. 

Momo pouted slightly at Nayeon’s remark but said nothing. 

“I don’t like this either but it’s the only way,” Tzuyu remarked. 

“Is it?” Nayeon challenged, but didn’t elaborate. 

Tzuyu’s eyes lit up suspiciously and Chaeyoung seemed to snap out of whatever haze she’d been stuck in. “You can’t avoid her forever, you know,” the younger girl told Nayeon. 

“I can try,” was all Nayeon responded with. 

Once the lunch period was coming to an end, Jihyo received an alert on her phone, pulling it out quickly and scanning the notification. “Good news!” she trilled. “The government voted against the Mutant Registration Act!” 

Jeongyeon let out a sigh of relief and Dahyun smiled excitedly. Akari blinked a few times, but couldn’t help but smile at everyone else’s happiness. Seeing how Akari looked a bit lost, Mina whispered: “The government was planning on making every mutant register with them, so they’d know our names and address...even our powers.” Akari nodded in understanding. 

“Maybe people are actually starting to see us for what we are...people,” Dahyun pondered. They could only hope that sympathy for mutants would rise, and people would no longer be afraid.

“Class starts in five minutes everyone,” Jihyo announced, looking down at her phone again for the time as she noticed some other students were throwing away their trash and preparing to go back inside the school. Dahyun and Sana quickly bounced up. Jeongyeon and Jihyo followed closely behind. “This was fun,” Jihyo replied, looking down at Akari and Mina, who remained sitting. “Let’s do this again tomorrow.” 

Akari nodded enthusiastically with a giddy smile on her face and Mina felt her heart soar. It made Mina unbelievably happy to see Akari like this—carefree and excited. She’d never seen her like that on any of their missions together. 

“See you tomorrow!” Sana called to Akari and Mina, waving to them before taking off with Dahyun’s arm hooked around her own. Jeongyeon waved as well before jogging to catch up with the two girls. Jihyo looked over at the table her other friends were taking up and saw they too were preparing to head to class. Jihyo walked over there, leaving Mina and Akari alone. For some reason Mina didn’t feel like moving. Maybe because this was the happiest she’d felt in awhile. She didn’t want the moment to end. She wanted to lay down in the grass and close her eyes, feeling the warm sun rays soak into her skin. 

Jihyo approached Nayeon, Momo, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu, explaining the news about the Mutant Registration Act she’d just found out about. “That’s what you were cheering about, huh?” Nayeon asked. “Well, maybe something will actually go right for once.”

“That’s the spirit,” Momo chirped, smiling at Nayeon as she stood up and collected her lunch tray. Nayeon, Momo and Jihyo walked toward the trash can by the door of the school. Tzuyu glanced at Chaeyoung, studying her for a moment before standing up, but said nothing. Chaeyoung looked over at Mina, watching Akari whisper something into Mina’s ear. Chaeyoung felt numb, so she quickly stood too. She hated feeling this way, but she needed to get away. 

As Tzuyu guided Chaeyoung toward the door, Chaeyoung couldn’t help but look back at Mina, who caught her eye and smiled slightly before Chaeyoung turned back around and headed into the school. 

Finally, Mina forced herself to stand, grabbing her own lunch tray as well as Akari’s. Akari remained on the ground through, staring up at Mina with a smug smile on her face. “You don’t have to dote on me all the time, you know,” Akari remarked.

“I don’t dote on you all the time,” Mina protested as she ran over to the trash can and neatly disposed of the trash and stacked the plastic trays on top of the trash can. She walked back over to Akari, who still remained on the ground, watching Mina with a lazy smile on her face. Mina reached a hand down to the brunette, offering to help her up. Akari took Mina's hand and groaned as Mina lifted her up, as if it took too much effort. Akari gave Mina a knowing look and Mina sighed. “What, is it a crime to be a good friend?”

“But you’re like, going way above and beyond the job description for “good friend”. You’re a shoe in for employee of the month and it's only been two weeks,” Akari joked. “But seriously, I know I’m still really clueless about everything but you don’t need to worry so much about me. I’ll manage.”

“I can’t help but worry,” Mina admitted. “Besides, I like spending time with you.”

Akari cleared her throat, turning her head slightly to look back at the edge of the garden, decorated with cherry blossoms. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Mina replied nervously. 

“Before my accident, were we…” Akari’s voice trailed off, but she looked pointedly back at Mina. “You know…dating?”

Mina’s eyes widened and she shyly looked down at ground in front of her. “No, no,” she assured. “We’re just friends. We’ve always been just friends.”

“Okay,” Akari replied, smiling at Mina’s sudden shyness. “In that case, are you and Chaeyoung together then?”

Mina let out a nervous laugh. “N-no, what makes you say that?”

“Oh c’mon,” Akari replied. “I might have memory loss but I’m not blind. You two are totally obvious.” 

Mina began playing with the ends of her hair, continuing to look down at the ground. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

“Uh-huh,” Akari teased, and her voice was light and cheery. “Whatever you say. Well, one of you two better make a move soon. You never know when someone will come along and snatch you up.” Akari winked at Mina, smiling smugly, and Mina just about started choking on air. Akari picked up her backpack off the ground and slung it over one shoulder. “I’m gonna head to my session with JYP now. See you later, obvious.”

Akari sauntered away, leaving Mina standing by herself. That girl loved to make an exit. Luckily no other students were around Mina now, or they might have seen how painfully flustered she was as she reached down and grabbed her own backpack, hurrying toward the door to make it to class on time. 

 

Akari had one-on-one training with JYP every day. Mina assumed it was quite difficult to help train a girl with so many different powers, but if anyone could pull it off, it was JYP. Mina had explained to Akari the day she’d woken up that she could steal another mutant’s power, but at the cost of their life.

“That means...I’ve killed people?” Akari asked, wide-eyed. She was sitting up on Mina’s bed at this time, gripping the sheet laid over her for support. 

“Yes,” Mina had replied. “But accidentally, when you were young. You’ve learned to control it now. You haven’t done it again, but that’s why you can do so many different things.”

Akari simply nodded, looking a bit in disbelief. “So I can shapeshift, control water, teleport and steal powers?” 

“That’s all I know yes, but you may be able to do more.”

Akari hugged her arms and shivered a bit at the thought of having taken a few lives. Perhaps, she thought to herself, it was better that she didn’t remember her past. She’d thought that then, but now Akari found herself desperate to learn more about herself, and she’d only find the answers in the past. For now, she’d stick with reviving any ties with these people whom Mina said were her friends—though she remembered absolutely nothing about them—so daily life here at JYP’s school could go smoothly. To do that, she’d have to start with the obvious elephant in the room.

“Nayeon,” a soft voice called, and Nayeon froze in her tracks, internally groaning. She knew that voice, but had normally only heard it from afar. “Do you have a minute?” It was after the afternoon block class, and Nayeon was headed back to her room. 

Nayeon spun around and found herself face to face with Akari. “Yeah, a minute,” Nayeon replied. She crossed her arms and attempted to look intimidating, which was a bit hard since Akari had a good two inches on her. 

“I’m not sure what I did to upset you in the past,” Akari began. “I don’t remember anything at all about myself...about this school...about you...but whatever I did, I’m sorry. I wish I could remember so I could make things right, but I have a feeling my memories might never come back. So whatever I did; whether I hurt you, or pettiness came between us, I truly am sorry. I hope you can come to tolerate me in time. I’m not asking for you to forgive me but, I’d just like us to coexist, at least for Mina’s sake. I hate how awkward things are. She wants everyone to get along, I can tell.”

Nayeon was shocked at Akari’s sudden apology. She was actually speechless as she digested everything the taller girl said. “Okay,” she finally managed to say. “But just for Mina’s sake. I don’t think I can ever forgive you,” Nayeon confessed.

That was enough for Akari, because she smiled hopefully, causing her dark brown eyes to shine with an intense brightness. “That’s alright.” There was an awkward pause. “I must’ve really been a b*tch, huh?” 

At that, Nayeon couldn’t help but laugh. “You could say that,” was all Nayeon responded with. “Alright, I gotta go. See you around.” The strawberry haired girl spun around and continued to walk down the hallway, leaving Akari standing there with a small smile on her face. 

 

Later in the day, Tzuyu was approached by a cheery Jihyo in the library once again. It seemed almost like clockwork that Jihyo would interrupt her studying, but Tzuyu found herself getting less and less annoyed, even looking forward to Jihyo’s short visit. 

“Hey,” Jihyo replied, sitting down across from Tzuyu without asking for permission—she’d stopped needing permission long ago. 

“Jihyo, can I ask you something?” Tzuyu began. She’d had a question for Jihyo all day, but hadn’t been able to ask her at lunch. Jihyo nodded, and Tzuyu continued. “Akari...she seems...normal to you right?”

Jihyo could see the hesitation and suspicion in Tzuyu’s face, so she nodded assuredly. “I always check on her whenever I’m near her and I can find nothing insincere about her. She has no thoughts indicating she remembers anything. I think Mina’s plan is actually going to work. But I’ll keep checking for awhile. I won’t stop—don’t worry.” 

Tzuyu sighed with relief. “Thank you. I just can’t help but worry.”

Jihyo reached across the table and grabbed Tzuyu’s hand reassuringly. She smiled dazzlingly, and Tzuyu’s breath caught in her throat as it so often did whenever she was with Jihyo recently. “We’ll be okay. Things are getting better, I can feel it.”

In that moment, Tzuyu believed everything Jihyo said. Sitting there, she felt things truly would be okay. Akari would never remember her past. The world would become more acceptant of mutants. They’d no longer have to hide in fear and shame. Her family could visit more often. She’d be happy, so happy. 

And for a few weeks, just a few, she was truly happy. 

But then reality set in, like it too often does, and a series of gunshots echoed throughout the front halls of JYP’s school.


	8. Get Away

For a few weeks a false sense of security had returned to the students of JYP’s school. Maybe it was the fact that the HCA had quieted down, all but halting their attempts to terrorize mutants. Maybe it was the The Mutant Registration Act being officially shot down by the government. It seemed as if things were going to be okay. And they were for some time, and everyone was happy. All of the girls—including Akari—sat with each other at lunch. There was still some tension, yes, but it had simmered down a significant amount. 

 

Then came chaos in the form of four white vans with dark-tinted windows carrying a small army of men and women dressed in black ski masks. They broke through security at the front gate of the school, boasting gas bombs of thick, white mist that seemed to hang thickly in the air before evaporating. The people on guard were lucky enough to be backhanded by the tip of the ugly, metal guns the men and women carried instead of being killed. They were knocked out quickly and the intruders stormed the gate, throwing their gas bombs at whoever they stumbled across. The men and women began rounding up students and professors one by one, holding them at gunpoint.

When the screaming, shouting and gunfire first erupted, Jeongyeon had been in class with Nayeon and Momo. Everyone stood up at once, and the professor urged everyone to remain calm. “Remember your training,” she instructed, moving toward the hallway. “We’ll need everyone to help.” Silently everyone moved forward. Nayeon immediately took Momo’s hand, walking side by side with her. 

“The HCA?” Jeongyeon asked, looking back at her friends.

“Who else?” Nayeon hissed, expression looking serious but terrified.

The hallway was filled with other nervous and surprised students and professors. The professors were gathering, pointing toward the sound of the commotion. It was toward the front of the school, by the entrance. In a giant mob, the crowd moved forward, breaking into a sprint. Momo let go of Nayeon’s hand and Nayeon shot her a look that said: “Don’t. For the love of god Momo, please don’t.”

But Momo was Momo, through and through. If she had to put herself in danger to help someone she would every time. She gave Nayeon a soft, reassuring smile before she disappeared in a blur, running ahead of everyone else and leaving Nayeon with a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. 

There were more gunshots, more shouting. Everyone ran faster. Nayeon had pulled out her neuralyzer, ready to go back in time and warn everyone that this attack—whatever it was—was going to happen. 

“Get down!” someone yelled, and Jeongyeon pulled Nayeon down to the ground with her. Something small and round flew over the heads of the students, hitting the tile floor with a clink. A release of white gas broke from the metal bomb and spilled into the air in seconds. 

Before the gas could spread to the area around her, Jeongyeon snapped and the chaos around her paused. There was no more screaming, just a vast quietness. Jeongyeon took a breath, forcing air into her lungs, before she stood up and surveyed the situation. At the end of the hallway, blocking the group’s path to the front of the school, there stood four people wearing ski masks, boasting assault rifles. They were running toward the group, mouths open mid-shout. The HCA. It had to be them. The bomb they had just thrown was no doubt releasing something to block their powers. JYP had warned the students that the HCA now had access to such devices after Jihyo and the rest of the girls had encountered them after being lured into that trap by Akari. 

Jeongyeon dragged herself forward, feeling like she was moving through molasses with every step. She couldn’t pause time for long, so she’d have to act fast. After carefully dodging the air filled with gas, Jeongyeon eventually made it to the four intruders. She grabbed the gun from the man in front of the group, having to pry it from his hands, but getting it away from him nonetheless. She examined the gun, not knowing how to use it, but figuring holding it with her finger over the trigger would be intimidating enough. She set the gun down carefully and pried the remaining guns from the other three strangers. Her body felt like it was surrounded in jelly now, as if gravity was weighing down on her with more intensity. 

What could she do now? She looked back at Nayeon, still curled up on the ground, face hidden by her arms. She carried a gun back with her to Nayeon, dancing around the gas in the air once again. She bent down beside Nayeon and placed on hand gently on the girl’s back. “Nayeon,” she yelled, shaking the girl. “Nayeon!” she yelled again with more urgency. She concentrated very hard on waking the older girl up, closing her eyes and furrowing her brow. After a moment, Nayeon suddenly gasped and then quickly bounced up, looking around at the scene in front of her with wide eyes. 

“Behind you,” Jeongyeon informed, and Nayeon spun around quickly, crying out when she saw Jeongyeon with the gun. “I grabbed this from one of the HCA people...but there’s three more guns. We need to point the guns at them so when I start time again they’ll be disarmed and confused. The gas is going to spread and stop us all from using our powers. There’s nothing I can do about that now, but if we have their guns then we’ll at least have the upper hand. We should get behind them and scare them from there...maybe we won’t inhale the gas if we move far enough away from the bomb.”

“Okay,” Nayeon replied, looking forward to see the guns Jeongyeon had taken from the intruders laid out on the floor. She moved forward, avoiding the gas and grabbed one. “Who else are we going to give the other two guns to?” 

“I don’t know if I can unfreeze anyone else,” Jeongyeon admitted, stepping forward with Nayeon and grabbing another one of the guns, while Nayeon grabbed the other. They each had two in their hands, and they were quite heavy. Jeongyeon’s breath was becoming laborious and her face was turning pale. Freezing time for this long was quite straining. “I’m barely holding on now. Let’s set these two down next to whoever we think is the most capable, that way someone can grab them as soon as time starts up again.” 

In the end, they chose to set the guns down next to their professors, figuring they’d be the most capable with a gun. The walk behind the four people in black ski masks might as well have taken a century with how sluggish Jeongyeon moved. As Jeongyeon passed the four assailants, Jeongyeon gave each one a hard shove, sending them falling backward onto their backs on the tile floor. They each hit the ground with a smack, faces remaining unchanged: angry and focused. They’d sure feel that in a minute. 

Finally Nayeon and Jeongyeon were in position. They aimed the assault rifles at their attackers on the ground.

“We need to find Momo,” Nayeon whispered.

“We will, let’s just try to stay alive first,” Jeongyeon replied. “You ready?”

Nayeon nodded, and Jeongyeon snapped her fingers. The world erupted into sound and motion.

The attackers, now on the floor, cried out in delayed pain at their fall, surprised at their sudden change in position and the fact that their guns were gone. The students cried out as the gas spread throughout the hallway. They coughed as it filled their lungs. Unfortunately for Nayeon and Jeongyeon, the gas spread fast, and it was only a matter of time before it filled their lungs too.

“Don’t move!” Jeongyeon roared. Startled, the four people on the ground craned their heads back to see Nayeon and Jeongyeon only feet away, alternating between aiming their guns from person to person. “Don’t move or we shoot!”

“Damn mutants,” one of the men on the ground muttered, putting his hands above his head. “Do you even know how to use that, little girl?”

“Wanna find out?” Jeongyeon warned, and the man on the ground grumbled.

The professors found the guns beside them and pushed in front of the students, who were now forming a half moon around the people on the ground. The HCA members were surrounded, however gunfire from the front of the building was still sounding. More of them were still causing havoc, which meant more students and professors were in danger. 

“Let’s get them tied up until the police come,” one of the professors instructed. “Can someone go get some rope from the gym?” A few students volunteered and ran there. Jeongyeon, Nayeon and the other two professors with guns left them pointed at the HCA members until the students returned with the rope. 

Students carefully moved forward and began bounding the wrists of the attackers. “Don’t touch me,” the only woman of the group cried, as Jae began to bound her wrists. “Filthy mutant! You’re an abomination!” Jae avoided her smacks and continued to tie a tight knot. 

“That gas disables our powers temporarily,” Nayeon told the professors. “With theses guns at least we stand a chance. We need to go help the people at the front of the school.” 

“Alright, we can handle these four fine for now. You two go up front and be careful. Remember, you’re practically human now.”

Jeongyeon and Nayeon nodded, retreating a few steps before turning around and sprinting down the hallway toward the sound of the echoing cries. Nayeon opened they’d find Momo up ahead soon.

 

The gunfire first started when Mina was alone in her room, attempting to get some studying done. She jumped up, pulling her earbuds out. Her first thought was Akari—she had to get to Akari. She ran out her door, slamming it closed behind her, running into the hallway—

—smack-dab into Chaeyoung. The two girls collided, sending them both stumbling backwards.

“Mina, are you okay?” Chaeyoung asked, with wide eyes. “I heard gunfire so I needed to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine,” Mina assured, “but we need to find out what’s going on. I need to find—”

“—hey!” a voice called, and Mina and Chaeyoung both turned to see Dahyun running toward them. “Did you guys hear that?”

“Gun shots,” Chaeyoung confirmed. “It sounded like it came from the front of the school, we need to go now.” 

Chaeyoung grabbed Mina’s hand and began pulling her forward. Together they rushed further into the school with Dahyun right behind them. “I need to find Akari,” Mina told Chaeyoung with a shaky breath. “If she’s in the middle of this there’s no telling what she’ll do. She might be in her room.”

“There’s no time!” Chaeyoung replied. 

“I’m on it,” Dahyun assured. She blinked and her body blurred slightly until there were two Dahyun’s running side by side—an identical copy of herself. “I’ll go back to her room, you go ahead,” the Dahyun on the left said, spinning around to head back toward Akari’s room. Mina’s eyes widened, never having seen Dahyun’s powers in action, but she was thankful for the younger girl’s help. The three girls continued to sprint on, turning a corner to head to the foyer near the front gate. 

When they reached the foyer, they were all startled to see a group of students rounded up against the wall, guarded by about six men wearing black ski masks with assault rifles. Mina raised her hand and the six men immediately dropped their weapons, shouting as they strained against the control of Mina’s mind. In another second the men dropped like flies, now sound asleep. Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Mina rushed over to the group of students, who looked very relieved to see Mina and her friends. 

“They’re releasing the gas that blocks our powers,” Jihyo, who was among the group of students, explained. Next to her was Sana, who looked pale and scared. Dahyun immediately ran to her and held her closely. She was shivering. 

“There’s more of them,” another student replied, stepping forward. “I think they headed toward JYP’s office.”

“Is anyone hurt?” Chaeyoung asked. Everyone shook their heads. 

“But I think they were going to kill us all,” Sana whispered. “We need to stop the rest of them.”

“You guys find somewhere safe to go, and grab their guns to bring with you just in case. We’ll go toward JYP’s office to see if we can find the rest of the HCA since we can use our powers,” Dahyun said.

Jihyo nodded, picking a rifle up off the ground and holding it awkwardly. “Be safe,” she pleaded.

Dahyun, Chaeyoung and Mina began running toward JYP’s office. “Akari was in her room,” Dahyun informed Mina as they ran. “I’m bringing her to the front so she can meet up with Jihyo and everyone else.” 

Mina was amazed at how Dahyun could know that while being here with them at the same time. She wanted to know more about how the whole duplication thing worked but she knew now was a bad time to ask. Instead she focused on moving quickly and keeping up with Chaeyoung.

Running up the stairs, down the hallway toward the offices, the three girls skidded to a halt seeing a group of professors slumped down against the wall. There was blood...lots of blood. Mina, Chaeyoung and Dahyun rushed to the aid of the professors, immediately checking for a pulse. Some of them groaned at the light touch, others remained still. “They’ve been shot,” Mina replied, examining the wounds. “We need to find—”

“—Miss Suzy!” Dahyun yelped, kneeling next to a woman laying on the floor with a pool of blood forming beneath her. “Oh god,” Dahyun yelled, noticing the bullet wound piercing the woman’s chest. “Miss Suzy?” Dahyun replied, gently tapping the woman’s shoulder. 

The older woman stirred, opening her eyes slowly. “Dahyun, be careful,” she whispered. “There’s bad people here.”

“Can you heal yourself?” Chaeyoung asked, gently lifting the woman’s head off the ground and placing it against her lap. 

“Normally yes,” Suzy wheezed. “But the gas...they released...my powers are gone…”

“They’ll come back in a few hours,” Chaeyoung replied. “Just hold on until then, okay?” Chaeyoung tightly gripped Suzy’s hand, which felt unnaturally cold. 

“We need medical supplies for everyone,” Mina replied. “I’ll run back and get them from the health center, okay?” 

“I’ll come with you,” Dahyun responded, duplicating herself once again. “And I’ll stay here with Chaeyoung,” the other Dahyun said. “We need to stay here in case the HCA come back.”

“Be careful,” Chaeyoung called to Mina as she and one of the Dahyuns began to run down the hall towards Suzy’s office, which wasn’t too far away. With her dad being a doctor, Mina had basic knowledge of medicine, and so she knew a few things to grab to help stop the bleeding of the bullet wounds. 

Mina quickly went through the supplies in Suzy’s office and grabbed gauze as well as sterile dressing. Dahyun kept watch as Mina grabbed a large amount of dressing and together they ran back to the hallway where Chaeyoung and the other Dahyun were waiting. Chaeyoung sighed with relief as soon as she saw Mina and Dahyun. Mina handed each person gauze and dressing, instructing them to apply direct pressure on the wound and to wrap it tightly. “The more blood they lose, the less of a chance they’ve got. We need to stop the bleeding.” 

Chaeyoung and the two Dahyuns did as they were told, patching up the five men and women all on the ground. “We need to find Nayeon so she can go back and warn everyone about this,” Chaeyoung said as she wrapped Suzy’s wound tightly. “I’d call but if she’s hiding I don’t want to put her in danger.”

“Don’t you think she would’ve gone back in time by now if she could?” The Dahyun closest to Chaeyoung asked. “She might not be able to use her powers...or worse.” 

“We need to find the other gunmen on this side of the school, then we should go back to look for Nayeon,” Mina suggested. “We need to eliminate the threat first and then worry about undoing all of this.”

Chaeyoung couldn’t argue with that. After everyone was patched up as best as a few untrained students could do, Chaeyoung quickly called the police, but they told her someone had already called and that help was already on the way. Feeling slightly relieved about that, the girls continued down the hallway on the lookout for any more of the masked thugs. There had to be more somewhere on this side of the school. Keeping alert, the girls moved stealthily and Mina was ready to use her powers at the first sign of any shadowy figure.

They reached JYP’s office and his door was slightly ajar. Dahyun gave Mina and Chaeyoung a worried look before she slowly pushed his door open all the way. There was no one inside the office, however it did look as though a tornado rolled through...the place was a disaster, with paperwork all over the floor and chairs tipped over. “Where could they be?” Chaeyoung asked. 

“Let’s head back toward Nayeon then,” Dahyun suggested. “Maybe we’ll run into the goons then.” 

The goons. That made them sound like villains in a cartoon, not gun-wielding people out for blood. By the time the girls reached the main foyer once again with the large staircase, they found the group of students they’d left there earlier was gone, moved somewhere safe hopefully. The people Mina had knocked out were still sleeping on the ground. They looked almost peaceful. 

Then the air was ripped apart as a bullet sailed toward the three girls faster than the speed of sound. Before any one of them could react to the sight of a group of men moving toward them from a side hallway there was the sound of a gun firing––so loud the world around them rang fiercely, causing Mina to grind her teeth as the force of hot metal kicked her right side back. She fell to the ground as pain erupted through her body. Her body felt like it was on fire. It felt as if someone whacked her with a metal baseball bat as hard as they could repeatedly. 

As the warm blood oozed out of her new wound, all Mina could hear was the sound of screaming. It was Dahyun, she realized. She tried to call out to the girl, but her body wouldn’t cooperate. It was getting harder for her to breath and her vision was blurred with her tears. There were a few other cries, deeper and sharper—cries of the men who had shot her. Mina could slightly make out what looked like a few Dahyuns, circling the men as they continued to fire at the increasing amount of bodies surrounding them. She saw another girl come running—Chaeyoung—and the guns flew out of the men’s hands, flying back to hit themselves in the face with a crunch. The force sent them crumbling to the ground.

There was more screaming. As Mina’s face was pressed into the hardwood floor, she could make out more feet gathering into the large foyer space. She could tell they were more students who must’ve come running at the sound of the gunshot. 

Next thing Mina knew she was being lifted off the floor, at least partially. Her head was now resting against someone’s chest and she felt very cold and numb. “Hang in there,” she heard someone say—whoever it was who had lifted her head off the ground and was holding her close now. 

Her eyes were closing though. The darkness was comforting. It was calling to her. There was no pain there. “Mina!” a voice shouted, shaking her from her almost slumber. The pain came rushing to her once again and she cried out. “Stay with me.” She felt soft fingers pressing at her side over the wound, causing her to whine in pain. 

It was a soft, pleasing voice. A voice she’d grown very fond of. She let it engulf her, letting it take her back to the time she’d just arrived at JYP’s school. She was quite nervous about fitting in, feeling less than human after spending years locked away in a place that seemed bent on making her into something animalistic. 

She was enjoying her time alone at lunch reading a book she’d just picked out at the huge library in the school. She’d began to love reading. It’d become so familiar to her, being it was the only thing that helped her stay sane as she was locked away in her room in the facility. Books helped take her to far off places. 

Quite invested in the story already, Mina was shocked when the book was ripped from her hands. Aggravated, her eyes widened and she jumped back slightly, watching as the book floated up on its own until it was nearly five feet off the ground. Mina stood up and reached for it, only to find the book dodge her hand and float higher. She huffed and looked at the book before she heard the sound of muffled laughter. She followed the sound and snapped her head in its direction, seeing a table of girls in their school uniforms. One had her hand extended in Mina’s direction. She had short hair styled in a way that reminded Mina of a movie star. The girl looked young and a bit mischievous, and was no doubt the one causing Mina’s book to levitate. Mina glared at the girl and they made eye contact briefly. Something passed between them then, a feeling Mina couldn’t quite describe. 

The girl dropped her hand in horror and Mina felt a thud on the top of her head, causing her to cry out and immediately rub the spot where the book had fallen. It hurt like hell. Mina picked up her lunch tray and book and immediately made a break for the school. The thought of a bunch of strangers seeing her cry terrified her, and so she ducked her head down and held her breath as she walked away. 

Then later in the library where Mina retreated to because she felt safe there, she saw the same short-haired girl again. She looked apologetic and guilty, no longer mischievous. And she stumbled through an apology in such a way that Mina couldn’t help but immediately forgive the girl. And as the girl rambled on about something, Mina watched her intently as an idea dawned on her. This girl could be her friend, a true friend. She could actually belong here. 

The memory faded as Mina felt cool hands on her face. “What happened?” another familiar voice shouted. This voice was not soft, but rather harsh and panicked. 

“She was shot,” Mina heard someone else answer. Mina strained her eyes to focus on the face hovering over her own—Akari. Akari looked down at her with eyes Mina had seen before many times while out in the field on missions. They were eyes filled with hate...burning with rage. Something inhuman. 

Akari snapped. 

She ripped a gun from Jihyo’s hands and fired it with deadly accuracy at the men and women wearing black that the students had managed to round up—even the ones already passed out on the ground from earlier. Head shot, head shot, head shot. The HCA members fell like dominoes, limp and dead. 

Jihyo screamed at Akari to stop, but even her loud voice was lost over the sounds of the assault rifle firing. Akari kept firing at each body, long after they were dead. Jihyo approached Akari, taking her shoulder and saying something in her ear. Whatever it was, Mina couldn’t tell. She was barely hanging onto consciousness at this point.

“They’re dead, okay!” Nayeon screamed at Akari. “And now the whole world is gonna think we’re all murderous monsters! We would’ve had their sympathy but you just threw that all away! Do you understand what you’ve done?”

Akari clicked on the safety and set down the gun she was holding. She took a step back, away from the group of girls all gathered around Mina. “They hurt her…” Akari muttered. “She’s dying!”

“The police and EMTs are on the way,” Sana assured. “She’ll be okay.”

“But what if she isn’t?” Akari asked, angrily at first, looking down at her hands and curling them into fists. “What if she isn’t…?” she asked again, this time sounding defeated and sad. She looked at Mina, lying limply in Chaeyoung’s arms and her hands began to tremble. Mina’s eyelids were drooping shut every few seconds but they’d snap open now and then as she fought to stay awake. 

“You!” Akari rushed forward toward Nayeon. “Turn back time! Undo this!” Akari begged, taking Nayeon by the shoulders and shaking her. 

“I would if I could,” Nayeon choked out as tears spilled down her cheeks. “But I can’t use my powers. I inhaled the gas earlier.”

“How convenient!” Akari roared. “The one person that could fix this becomes useless when we need her the most. What good are you then?” She pushed Nayeon backward, causing the red-headed girl to stumble. Momo, who Jeongyeon and Nayeon had found shortly after running off on their own, rushed to her girlfriend’s side and steadied her.

“Don’t you dare touch her,” Momo growled, face turning dangerously serious. 

“You don’t think I’d give everything to go back?” Nayeon yelled at Akari, tears spilling down her cheeks freely now. “This is all your fault! You’re the one who got the HCA this technology in the first place. If they didn’t have this gas then there’d be no way they could’ve gotten past the front gate!”

“Nayeon…” Sana warned, clinging onto Dahyun’s arm with wide eyes. 

“Mina could die because of you...Momo and Sana almost died because of you...you bring nothing but misery,” Nayeon spit out. “You’re a monster. You don’t deserve to be here in the first place.”

Akari dug her fingernails into her palms with so much force that it began to draw blood. The rage she’d felt earlier had let a floodgate of memories poor in, and now Nayeon’s words were helping her piece things together.

Akari took a step forward and Momo stepped in front of Nayeon to protect her. The two girls glared at each other. Akari imagined sucking the life from Nayeon until she was dry and dead the thought greatly satisfied her. 

“Stop,” Mina yelled out as loudly as she could. “Akari, please.” 

Akari spun around to face Mina, who had lifted her head to look up at what was taking place. The girl looked incredibly pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes. She looked like death. And the blood spilling through her upper chest, flowing through Chaeyoung’s desperate fingers as she tried to put pressure on the wound, made Mina look like she was in a scene from a slasher movie.

Akari remembered the first time she’d seen Mina. She looked so young and innocent—not cut out for the life she was drawn into living at the facility. Akari felt for her, but she was also happy to see her, as selfish as that sounded. Mina was a friendly face, someone who actually understood Akari’s struggles. Someone who looked at her like she wasn’t a trained circus animal. Akari remembered the look on Mina’s face as she turned around and walked out of the facility, leaving her there to rot in that room and be put down like a rabid dog. The betrayal she felt came flooding back, like a slap in the face.

But then Akari remembered Mina’s face when she woke up here in the school after Mina had wiped her memories. It wasn’t angry, or vengeful, but hopeful. She remembered Mina lightly patting her arm when she said: “I’ll do my best to help you find yourself again.” Akari remembered Mina’s shy smile when she admitted she liked spending time with her.

Akari dropped to the ground and crawled forward toward Mina. Everyone else flinched and stepped backward in fear. Akari looked up at them and began to tremble slightly. She was by Mina’s side, and Mina was looking up at her tiredly. Chaeyoung gave Akari a threatening look as she pulled Mina closer to her. She had no idea what Akari would do now.

“I’m sorry,” Akari whispered to Mina. “I’m so sorry for everything. I remember...I remember everything.” 

Mina’s eyes widened but she didn’t look alarmed, as Akari seemed more distressed than angry. 

“But just hang on...please...help is on the way.” Akari took one of Mina’s hands, which felt alarmingly cold, and she squeezed it.

Mina opened her mouth to say something but instead of words coming out she wretched and a bit of blood spilled from her lips. Her eyes looked distant, like she was suddenly looking at something far away behind Akari. Her breath was becoming ragged and uneven. It’s clear blood was now filling up her lungs, making it difficult for her to breathe.

“Oh god,” Chaeyoung cried, burying her head into Mina’s neck and sobbing. “Mina I love you, I love you, I love you,” she whispered over and over again, just loud enough for Akari to hear it. 

Akari squeezed Mina’s hand more tightly. “I won’t let you die,” she whispered to Mina. “God, I have so many powers but I’m still useless now. Unless…” her voice trailed off as an idea suddenly came to her.

Chaeyoung looked up at her suspiciously. 

“I can take life away…” Akari began slowly, “but what if I can give it too.”

Jihyo knelt down beside the girls, wanting to hear what Akari was saying more clearly. Everyone else remained at a distance, watching with tear-filled eyes. “You think you can save her?” Jihyo asked, looking at Akari earnestly. 

“I’m not sure…” Akari admitted. “But I can try.” 

Akari looked at Mina’s vacant eyes and pushed all her emotions to the surface. She thought of all the powers she had stolen from other mutants and the extra energy she carried around with her because of it. If she could just figure out a way to transmit some of that energy to Mina...maybe she could heal her wound.

She thought of all her powers...her ability to manipulate water, teleport, shape-shift...and imagined them as balls of energy, separating from her body and going into Mina. Perhaps if she wanted it badly enough, it could happen. 

She wished it with all her might...for just one of her powers to transfer to Mina. Whenever Akari took a mutant’s power...essentially their life force, she felt stronger and rejuvenated. Perhaps it would be the same effect. The voice in her head screamed as she closed her eyes and projected everything she had at Mina. 

Mina’s empty eyes began to clear again, and she blinked slowly. She coughed slightly and Akari’s grip on her hand softened. “Mina, just hold on a little longer,” Chaeyoung begged. 

The sound of sirens wailed in the distance and Momo ran outside to direct the police and cops to Mina as quickly as possible. An entire team of policemen and women entered the premise on high alert, followed by EMTs carrying stretchers and medical bags. Momo quickly explained to them that the threat had been eliminated or contained. There were still other groups of HCA members being held at different points in the school. 

“She needs help,” Momo gestured to Mina. “But there’s more injured back toward the bedrooms. I’ll take you there.” 

“And there’s people injured back by the offices too,” Dahyun replied. She duplicated herself so she didn’t have to peel herself away from Sana and offered to take the doctors up to that wing of the school. Mina was rolled onto a stretcher, pulled from Chaeyoung’s arms and lifted away. Chaeyoung trailed behind the EMTs like a lost puppy, not wanting to leave Mina’s side. Akari stood up and watched as Mina was taken away with shimmering eyes. It might have been a trick of her mind, but for a moment Mina briefly looked like someone else.


	9. Clearest Blue

There’s no such thing as the absence of sound, because even when the world is silent there’s a hum in your ears that’s almost haunting. The sound of silence can be peaceful, but in this moment it was deadly. In total darkness, Tzuyu wanted to hear anything—something to prove to her that she wasn’t dead now, floating into oblivion—but all she heard was nothingness, and it was deafening.

 

She tried to move her arms but something hard and tough cut into her wrists, keeping them in place at her sides. She groaned in pain. Tzuyu had no idea where she was, but she knew she wasn’t dead—the pain in her wrists confirmed that. She was tied up somewhere, lying on something hard and cold while blindfolded.

She tried her wrists again, summoning all her strength, but found she still could not break the restraints. How was her strength failing her now? Oh, right. It had been the gas, thick and heavy, burning her lungs and stinging her eyes. She had been looking for the others—where was Jihyo?—but felt something heavy hit the back of her head and the ceiling lights exploded into stars and there was only pain and darkness. 

She might have had superhuman strength but her body was not indestructible. She was as susceptible to injury as any other normal human being. It was at times like these that she felt useless.

After a few minutes of silence, there was the sound of a door creaking open. Heavy footsteps bombarded the quiet. “Looks like she’s finally awake,” a man said somewhere in the darkness. Tzuyu didn’t have to see the man’s face to know it held a sneer. “You’ve kept us waiting for quite awhile, and we don’t like waiting.”

Tzuyu remained silent, holding her breath. She had to choose her next move wisely. 

Tzuyu felt a hand on her upper arm, wiping her exposed skin with something cold and wet which made her instantly tense up. Then she felt the sharp prod of a needle piercing into her and she cried out in pain. “Let’s get started,” the same voice whispered in her ear, as sharp and piercing as the needle injecting something unknown into her body. 

 

“Whatever you did, did it work?” Jihyo asked, looking at Akari with suspicion as Mina and Chaeyoung disappeared from view, taken outside. 

Akari closed her eyes and thought about Mina...her face, her hair, the way her feet turned out when she walked. She opened her eyes again and looked down at herself. She ran a hand through her hair and examined its length. It was the same. “I can’t shapeshift anymore,” she observed. “I think it worked.”

Jihyo looked at Akari like a lightbulb lit up above her head. “If you can’t does that mean…”

“Mina has that power now,” Akari said, staring at the doorway that Mina had been rushed out of, as if she stared hard enough Mina would reappear, healthy and happy. But Mina was losing blood fast, struck by a hot piece of metal right above her heart. 

The SWAT team had finished going through the school, searching for any survivors. Akari had killed all the HCA members, and so their bodies were zipped up into black bags, like nothing more than garbage, and carried out of the school. JYP finally appeared amid the chaos, clutching his arm as he was guided into the foyer. Students gathered as they watched him be escorted out of the building.

As he passed the students and few uninjured professors, he said: “As of right now, there’s a school-wide lock-down. No one leaves until I get back. It’s not safe.”

There were murmurs among the group, but no one questioned his orders. 

Momo and Dahyun returned to the foyer, with Sana practically running to Dahyun as she returned. Jihyo let out a sigh as she noted the faces missing from their group. Chaeyoung and Mina were going to the hospital...but Tzuyu, where was Tzuyu?

“Did you see Tzuyu at all?” Jihyo asked Momo, a bit nervously. Momo shook her head.

“I figured she was with another group of students.”

“Dahyun?” Jihyo asked. “Did you see Tzuyu at all?”

“No,” Dahyun replied, sensing Jihyo’s dread. “No one has seen her?”

The crowd of students shook their heads, looking between each other.

“Let’s split up and search the school,” Nichkhun suggested, weaving through the students to make it to the front of the mob. “Some of you head to the west wing, the others, the east. Search every room, make sure she’s not hiding somewhere.”

She wouldn’t hide, Jihyo thought, but she moved toward the east wing with a great sense of urgency and a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She began jogging, searching room to room. She found nothing but the familiar school. The familiar class rooms. The familiar desk and white boards. The familiar dorms. But there was no Tzuyu, who wasn’t just familiar. She was so much more than that and she was gone.

 

The surgery Mina underwent was quite complicated. For starters, her physical form often changed before the surgeon’s eyes. As the doctors attempted to remove the bullet lodged inside her chest her skin stretched and tightened. Some doctors couldn’t handle the fact that they were operating on a mutant. They walked out, refusing to perform the surgery, and so others had to be recruited. 

Chaeyoung sat in the waiting room, drumming her fingers in anguish as she waited to hear the news. JYP was also hurt in the incident, but it was nothing more than a broken arm. As soon as it was casted he was on his feet, traveling from room to room, attempting to keep track of all the professors and students from his school who were being treated. He’d tasked Chaeyoung with keeping an eye on Mina, and Chaeyoung was more than happy to comply. There wasn’t a chance she wouldn’t be by Mina’s side...or as close as she could get for now. 

A nurse entered the waiting room and Chaeyoung stood up, heart suddenly pounding at the nervous look on the woman’s face. “You’re Son Chaeyoung?” the woman asked. 

Chaeyoung nodded. “Yes, is she alright?”

“Your friend...are you aware that she’s...not normal?”

Chaeyoung’s eyes widened. “What do you mean?”

The nurse looked around the room and stepped closer. “She’s...a mutant,” she whispered.

“Oh,” Chaeyoung replied. “Yes, I’m aware.”

The nurse looked relieved. “The surgery is proving to be more difficult than expected, but the doctors are doing their best. But your friend...she keeps changing.”

“Changing?” Chaeyoung had thought she’d seen something strange happen to Mina as she was rushed into the back of the ambulance but things were too chaotic for her to really register it. 

“Her appearance...physically changes at times.”

Chaeyoung froze. 

“As they try to operate, her skin and organs are expanding and contracting. But they were finally able to dislodge the bullet.”

Chaeyoung released the breath she was holding. 

“She’s resting now, but you can at least come and stay with her so you can be there when she wakes up.”

Chaeyoung followed the nurse to the trauma wing of the hospital, glancing inside the other rooms and shuddering at the sight. Mina did not belong here with all these sick and injured people. 

Finally they reached a room at the end of the hall and the nurse stopped a few feet away from the door. “You can go inside,” she motioned to the door, clearly not wanting to get too close. Chaeyoung took a deep breath and opened the door. 

It took Chaeyoung a moment to adjust to the sight of a pale and sickly Mina laying on her back on the hospital bed, hair fanned out in all directions on the pillow. She looked almost peaceful... except the girl laying on the bed wasn’t Mina.

Chaeyoung felt like she’d been punched in the gut and her feet were sinking into the tile floor. She looked behind her at the nurse, who was watching her curiously from a distance. The nurse simply nodded and closed the door behind Chaeyoung, trapping her in the room with the girl that was supposed to be Mina but wasn’t. 

The girl on the bed looked older than Mina, by at least a few years. She had dark brown hair and soft features. Chaeyoung had never seen her before in her life. But this was Mina, right? This was the girl that Chaeyoung realized she loved as the girl’s blood spilled through her fingers.

Your friend...she keeps changing. 

Whatever Akari had done to Mina, it’d worked. She restored her life, but she’d transferred over a power to her as well. Mina could shapeshift. Only it appeared she had no control over it whatsoever. 

Chaeyoung sat down in the chair beside the hospital bed, observing Mina with wide eyes. Who was this girl she’d changed into? Was it someone Mina’d known in the past? Was it simply someone she’d seen passing by on the street?

Chaeyoung pulled out her phone and texted Jihyo:

Whatever Akari did it saved Mina’s life...but she can shapeshift now.

Chaeyoung waited for what seemed like forever. She was exhausted from the long day and the trauma of the events that had occurred. The sun was setting and her eyelids were growing heavier…

The feeling of fingers running through her hair jolted Chaeyoung awake. She sat up and her eyes immediately burned from the harsh fluorescent lights overhead. Squinting, she took in her surroundings. She had fallen forward and was resting her head and arms on the hospital bed. Mina’s warm and gentle face was to her right, smiling tightly, skin stretching over bone, but her eyes were luminescent.

It was her. It was Chaeyoung’s Mina. With her shoulder length black hair, tousled this way and that. What little makeup she wore was smudged slightly around her eyes. 

She was sitting up in her bed and she had been running her fingers through Chaeyoung’s short hair as she let the younger girl rest. 

“It’s you,” Chaeyoung said. “Are you okay?” It was a stupid question to ask, but she asked it nonetheless.

“I’m okay,” Mina confirmed through her cracked lips. “Is everyone else okay?”

Chaeyoung hesitated. She knew there were many others from the school at the hospital, some in stable condition and others in urgent condition. “All of our friends are okay,” but this was a lie. There was one person whose location and condition was unknown. In the aftermath of the attack, after extensive searches of the school, she was nowhere to be found, according to Jihyo’s frantic texts. But Mina didn’t have to know about that right now.

Mina sighed with relief. “I thought I was going to die,” she admitted. 

You did die. “You gave us all a good scare.” Did she remember what Chaeyoung had whispered to her as she was bleeding out?

“But Mina...Akari gave you something to help you. To save you.”

This caught Mina’s attention. She leaned forward, anticipating Chaeyoung’s next words.

“The nurses, they told me when they were operating on you...you changed.”

Mina looked confused. She opened her mouth to say something but Chaeyoung cut her off.

“You can shapeshift now.”

Mina looked alarmed, but she said nothing. 

“When I first came in here, you looked like someone else. But you must’ve changed back when I fell asleep.”

Mina didn’t like the fact that she’d changed while unconscious. She didn’t feel any different, but surely she should, right?

“What did I look like?” Mina whispered. 

Chaeyoung rested a hand on Mina’s leg which was buried under the covers. “An older woman...maybe mid-twenties...with dark brown, straight hair...you looked peaceful.”

Mina thought for a moment. “I had a dream...about the facility. Dr. Tanaka…” she stopped and her eyes widened. “Dr. Tanaka.” Her neck was bent at an odd, inhuman angle. Mina couldn’t bring herself to close the woman’s eyes, even though she knew it was the respectful thing to do. 

There was a flash of pain behind Mina’s eyes. Chaeyoung watched as Mina’s form blurred slightly and was replaced with the woman she’d seen in the bed earlier. This “Dr. Tanaka” woman, Chaeyoung assumed. 

“It’s okay,” Chaeyoung assured. “We’ll figure things out. You’ll learn to control it, just like you’ve learned to control your other power.” Chaeyoung reached for Mina’s trembling hands and took them in her own. They were ice cold.

Mina shifted back to herself as she looked at Chaeyoung. Her eyes were shining from tears. “I know,” she replied. She would, but how long would it take?

 

 

“Where could she possibly be?” Jihyo cried out, collapsing onto her bed, feeling as if all of the energy was sucked out of her. Tzuyu was gone. No one had seen what happened to her during the onset of the HCA members invading the school. There was too much blood and chaos. Jihyo’d used her powers, once they’d returned, to scan the school for any sign of Tzuyu, only she couldn’t feel her presence at all. She wanted to go out and search every inch of Korea for her, but JYP had initiated that campus wide lock-down in his absence. 

“They must have her,” Jeongyeon replied, sitting down on her own bed. “She would never just run away without a word. She must’ve been forced out.”

The thought of that happening to Tzuyu made Jihyo want to throw up. She was supposed to protect her friends and she’d let Tzuyu down when the younger girl needed her the most. 

“We’ll find her, don’t worry,” Jeongyeon assured, sensing Jihyo’s thoughts. “The police are looking for her, and once JYP is back you know he’ll use every resource to find her.”

Jihyo sighed and looked up at her ceiling, tracing the white texture of it with her eyes. If something happened to Tzuyu, what would she do? What if by the time they reached her it was too late? Jihyo couldn’t even allow herself to think about that. She knew Tzuyu was tough. One of the toughest girls she’d ever met. She’d be able to hold out long enough for Jihyo to find her, right? 

“I can’t just sit around here and do nothing,” Jihyo whined. “Poor Tzuyu…”

“As long as they have that gas, going after her is a suicide mission. Without our powers, we’re useless.” Jeongyeon looked at Jihyo with a sympathetic stare. She wanted to find Tzuyu as much as Jihyo, but she didn’t want anyone else getting hurt in the process.

Jihyo groaned and kicked at her bed. Not being able to do anything while Tzuyu was out there all alone was killing her. The thought of Mina in the hospital with her new power made her nervous as well, but she knew she had to stay at the school and look after the remaining students in JYP’s absence. “If the police don’t find her soon I’m going after her alone.”

“And face a bunch of people armed with guns who hate you? I can’t let you do that,” Jeongyeon shook her head. “Hey Nayeon, can you tell Jihyo how stupid she sounds right now?” 

Nayeon wasn’t listening though. She was blasting music with her headphones on, trying to block out the nagging thoughts in her head. The one person that could fix this becomes useless when we need her the most. What good are you then? Akari’s words replayed in her mind over and over. Mina had almost died and she’d just stood there and watched like a worthless fool. The same thing had happened with Sana. Nayeon had let her guard down, been stripped of her powers, and Sana had almost bled out too. And now Tzuyu was gone, and none of them had even noticed until the battle was over. What good was she, really? 

Nayeon flinched at the sudden hand on her shoulder. She tore her headphones off and looked at Jeongyeon, who was hovering over her, in annoyance. “What?” she snapped. 

“Jihyo wants to go find Tzuyu on her own,” Jeongyeon said. “Tell her how stupid she is, please.”

Nayeon paused her music and sat up in her bed, looking at Jihyo. She remained silent though as the wheels in her head spun. 

“I don’t like that look,” Jeongyeon groaned. “C’mon, you know it’s suicide. We all know the HCA has her. She wouldn’t just run away on her own. It’s probably a trap, just like it was with Momo.”

“I don’t like sitting here doing nothing,” Nayeon muttered. “Tzuyu’s out there and she needs our help.”

“Exactly!” Jihyo replied, eyes suddenly burning with hope and passion. “Maybe if we take precautions we can be sure to not let the gas effect us. And Akari, she can fight. She doesn’t need her powers to beat people up anyway.”

At the sound of Akari’s name, Nayeon made a face. “I’m not going anywhere with her.”

Jihyo rolled her eyes. “Look, Nayeon, I know she’s made some mistakes—”

“—some mistakes?” Nayeon replied, voice rising in volume. “She tried to murder Sana. She basically put a welcome mat outside of the school for the HCA and look what happened! All of this is her fault!”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Jihyo admitted. “But we can’t do anything about that now. What we can do though is use her to our advantage. With her on our side we can get Tzuyu back.”

“And what makes you think she’d help us get Tzuyu, anyway?” Nayeon challenged.

“Mina,” Jihyo whispered, plain and simple. “She loves Mina. And Tzuyu is Mina’s friend.” 

Nayeon and Jeongyeon looked at Jihyo like she’d grown a second head. “I watched Akari nearly kill Chaeyoung. It happened in another timeline, which I prevented from being our own, luckily,” Nayeon added. “What makes you think Akari’d do anything different now? She doesn’t care about us.”

“I’ve felt what she feels,” Jihyo confirmed. “She’s not the same person who she used to be. Mina helped give her a second chance and she feels thankful for that. She likes us now and I know she cares about Mina. I’m not blind, have you seen the way Akari looks at her? Did you see her when Mina was bleeding out? She was devastated. And she saved Mina, too.”

Jihyo had told her friends about the text Chaeyoung had sent her about Mina’s new powers. It was confirmed then that whatever Akari did worked.

“Fine, but I’m not gonna go rally her onto our side. That’s up you,” Nayeon sighed. 

“I can’t believe you two,” Jeongyeon threw up her hands. “You’re both gonna get killed.” She paused. “But you know I can’t let you go out there alone. So I’m coming too.” 

 

 

Jihyo knocked tentatively on Akari’s door. She knew the older girl was holed up in there doing who-knows-what. “Hey, Akari?” Jihyo called.

After a few seconds the door slowly opened. Akari peaked her head out. She looked disheveled and drained. Her eyes were red, possibly from crying. 

“Nayeon, Jeongyeon and I are going to look for Tzuyu. We think the HCA has her. Would you come with us?” Jihyo tried to seem as open and friendly as possible, but she could already feel Akari’s distrust and shame rolling off of her in waves.

Jihyo knew that Akari had the weight of the entire attack on her shoulders. Jihyo could feel the burden and it was almost too much for her to bear, even just for a brief moment. She did remember everything about her past, but her new life her at the school had changed her outlook on things. For example, even though Akari was a bit of a wreck, Jihyo couldn’t feel any hatred for her or her friends. Akari just felt hatred for herself. 

“Aren’t we all on lockdown?” Akari asked. 

“Yeah,” Jihyo shrugged. “But Tzuyu needs our help. Who knows if she’ll be okay by the time the police find her? We’re her best chance. Maybe her only chance.”

Akari remained silent, thinking. She thought of Tzuyu, subjected to torture or experiments at the hands of the HCA. A cold, stainless steel table under a harsh, fluorescent lamp. She thought of her own experience at the Facility...and then, naturally, she thought of Mina, being subjected to the same cruel treatment. Mina being injected with substances with unknown effects. How was Mina now? She was hanging on? Was she bleeding out? Did she—

“Your powers did transfer to Mina,” Jihyo added, addressing some of Akari’s wandering thoughts. Boy, Akari really did care for that girl. “Chaeyoung texted me that she can shapeshift. She can’t control it though.”

“No, that’ll take time,” Akari said thoughtfully. “The first time I shifted I was stuck looking like Satomi Ishihara for nearly a month. I’m not kidding.” 

Jihyo knew she really wasn’t kidding. The thought of Mina being in a similar predicament both amused and horrified Jihyo. But Mina’s new power wasn’t the pressing matter at hand—Tzuyu’s life was at stake. “Please Akari,” Jihyo begged. “Going against the HCA means dealing with people with guns and that awful gas again. With you on our side we can’t lose.”

“Alright,” Akari agreed. “But we do this my way. Understand?”

Jihyo nodded. 

“We’ll leave in a few hours, just before it gets dark. I think I might know a few places to check. Be prepared to fight and tell Nayeon to be ready to turn back time at any moment.”

 

Tzuyu had slipped into some semblance of sleep during all the poking and prodding. Lights burned above her brightly, so harsh they were blue. Men in lab coats hovering above her faded in and out of view. She was slowly snapping back into this reality...this new, horrible, nightmare like existence. She found herself thinking of her friends...were they okay? Were they even alive?

Tzuyu felt a tear fall down her face and she immediately tensed up, not wanting that pain to show. She didn’t want these people to think she was afraid, even though a large part of her believed she might never leave this room again. 

“What are you doing to me?” she managed to croak out, looking at one of the men standing by her side. Her voice sounded raw and dry. 

“Seeing what makes you different from us,” the man replied. His voice sounded small and far away. “We can’t fight an enemy we don’t understand.”

An enemy. Tzuyu was too weak to feel outraged. Instead, she felt indifferent and numb. “Are you going to kill me?”

“Kill you?” the man looked surprised. “A perfectly fine specimen? No, we have plans for you—”

“Jesus, Minseo. Shut your mouth! Didn’t anyone ever tell you you talk too much?” another man snapped, face pinched up in annoyance. 

“Sorry,” Minseo muttered, turning away to look at data entered into some medical machine. 

Tzuyu swallowed and took a shallow, ragged breath. Finally there were no more needles in her, and it seemed the men in coats had finished collecting whatever data they needed for now. She was left alone in the darkness. The lights flickered off in the mens’ absence and Tzuyu found comfort in it...finally a relief to her senses, which had been overwhelmed and overused for what felt like hours. 

She let her eyes closed and attempted to fall back asleep, figuring she’d need to conserve what little strength she had left. She let her mind wander, and it took her straight to Jihyo. Jihyo smiling in the library. Jihyo finding her in the gym, looking at her with concern on her face. Jihyo sitting in the desk next to her, saying “If you got hurt I’d never forgive myself.”

Funny how she tried to tell Jihyo she could take care of herself. Now here she was, a helpless labrat in some underground lair somewhere near or far from her home, she wasn’t even sure. I’ll try my best not to get hurt, for your sake, Tzuyu thought to herself. 

 

“I’m happy you’re here,” Mina replied, watching Chaeyoung shovel some hospital pudding into her mouth with a spoon. Mina would be in the hospital for at least a few more days, recovering from her surgery, but Chaeyoung insisted on staying with her for as long as possible. This just meant for one night, then Mina would force the younger girl to actually fall asleep in her own bed versus resting on Mina’s hospital bed in what looked like an uncomfortable position.

Chaeyoung looked up at her and quickly swallowed before smiling back at the girl. “Where else would I be?”

Mina shrugged, but continued to stare at Chaeyoung happily. “I’m just thankful...for everything. When I first came to Korea, I thought I’d never be happy again. Leaving my family behind...the place where I grew up...even my dog, I was devastated. You helped make JYP’s school my home.”

Chaeyoung’s dimple appeared as she continued smiling at Mina. “I dropped a book on your head, don’t you remember?”

Mina laughed and nodded. “I thought you were so cool,” she admitted. 

Chaeyoung nearly spit out her pudding. Her, cool? Chaeyoung shook her head in amusement. “You thought I was so cool, as in past tense...does that mean you don’t think I am anymore?”

Mina smiled cheekily. “You actually turned out to be a huge dork.”

“Hey!” Chaeyoung protested, but she laughed. “You are too. You might be this all-powerful hypnotist but you’re actually a nerd.”

“Not all-powerful enough, apparently,” Mina added dryly. The mood instantly darkened and Chaeyoung remembered everything that had happened within the last 24 hours. 

“Well, I mean, you’re still human. No one can withstand a bullet unless you have indestructible skin, which you don’t, obviously.” 

Mina simply shrugged but then winced, pressing a hand to the right side of her chest. The movement of her shrug pulled at her stitches.

“Take it easy,” Chaeyoung begged, immediately standing up and moving closer to Mina. 

Mina looked up at her and there was a ripple...her features flickered for a second and changed. Chaeyoung was staring at a version of herself with Mina’s shoulder-length hair. Chaeyoung jumped back in surprise and Mina’s expression turned from one of pain to one of confusion. 

All Chaeyoung could do was stare for a moment, taking in the bizarre sight, before her mouth started working again. “You...you’ve changed.” 

And just like that, Mina was back to normal again. 

“I didn’t even know...I didn’t even realize. I can’t feel it. Am I still—” she put her hands against her face, feeling her nose and cheeks in a panic.

“No, you’re back to normal now,” Chaeyoung assured. 

Mina sighed with relief. “Who did I look like this time?”

Chaeyoung sat down in her seat and felt her cheeks flushing slightly. “Me.” 

Mina could feel her own face burning. “I’m sorry, that’s so weird,” she bowed her head slightly and winced again, clutching her wound, which was heavily bandaged beneath her blue hospital gown. 

“When you think of someone you shift into them, it seems,” Chaeyoung observed. “So does that mean you were thinking of me just now?”

Mina pouted and turned away, hiding behind her hair. “Well...you were talking to me and when someone talks to me I think about them because they have my attention,” Mina quickly blurted out and Chaeyoung smiled slyly. 

“I’m just teasing,” Chaeyoung replied. She ran a hand through her short hair out of habit as she sat back down in her chair. “I’m sure Akari can help you make sure that doesn’t happen when you don’t want it to.” 

At the sound of Akari’s name, Mina perked up, and Chaeyoung half expected the older girl to suddenly look like Akari herself, but Mina didn’t change. “I know things have been hard with Akari being at the school. I’m sorry I’ve put you in an uncomfortable position with her. I just hope you understand, I feel responsible for her. I wanted to make things right.”

“Of course I understand,” Chaeyoung assured, swallowing another bite of pudding. “And she saved your life too...so I’m thankful for that.” Even though she was basically the one responsible for the attack, by giving the power-blocking gas to the HCA. But Mina didn’t need to hear that right now. “You did the right thing.” 

Did Mina remember that Akari had killed all of the surviving HCA members without hesitation? Did she remember that Akari told her that all her memories were back? Holding Mina, Chaeyoung had heard everything that came from Akari’s mouth. Likewise, she knew that Akari had heard everything she had said to Mina too. So Akari knew where Chaeyoung stood...and Chaeyoung could infer where Akari stood too.

The thought of Akari standing in her way of Mina’s heart angered Chaeyoung. How could this girl who killed without thought mean anything to Mina? How could someone with that much blood on their hands appeal to someone so gentle and kind? Yet, Chaeyoung knew Mina cared for Akari still. Mina was too kind...too forgiving…she wanted to see the good in everyone…

Was there good in Akari? Maybe, Chaeyoung couldn’t be sure. Even though the mere thought of Akari made her uneasy, she put on a brave face for Mina’s sake.

“Chaeyoung?” Mina asked quietly. Chaeyoung snapped from her own thoughts and returned her attention to the older girl in front of her. “Are you okay?”

Chaeyoung smiled duly and nodded. “Yeah, just thinking, that’s all.”

Mina nodded, as if she wasn’t quite satisfied with that answer, but didn’t press further. “I can’t wait to go home. Things won’t be the same now though, will they?”

“No,” Chaeyoung responded. “They won’t be the same at all.”


	10. Follow You

Akari led the group of four girls to the front of the school quietly. They’d have to make it out the front gate, which was being guarded by double the amount of security as usual. The guards were strictly ordered to make sure no one beside the professors left the school until JYP returned. They’d have to get past them somehow, and without Mina’s power of hypnosis, the task would surely prove to be difficult. 

Though Akari was powerful, stealth was never really her forte. She could easily teleport to the other side of the fence, but the other three girls couldn’t do the same. That left the task to Jeongyeon to get Jihyo and Nayeon to the other side of the fence, past the stationed guards. 

“Can you do this?” Nayeon asked, looking at Jeongyeon with a bit of concern. “I know the last time you did this with just me it took a lot out of you.” 

“I’ll be fine,” Jeongyeon brushed off, then she turned to Akari. “We’ll see you on the other side.”

Akari simply nodded, took a few steps and disappeared into thin air. 

Jeongyeon, Jihyo and Nayeon crept up to the front gate as closely as they could without being spotted. “Okay, we’re all gonna have to make a run for it because I won’t be able to pause time for that long with all three of us fighting against it.” Jihyo and Nayeon nodded.

Jeongyeon looked between her two closest friends and took a breath, then she snapped softly before she felt the usual stillness of time coming to a halt. She moved swiftly, tapping both Jihyo and Nayeon, causing them both to spring into life. “Come on,” Jeongyeon instructed, forcing her left foot forward and feeling the usual resistance. 

The two other girls followed, both struggling to lift their feet with every step. They moved as quickly as they could past the guards—two professors and some students they recognized—who were frozen mid-conversation. Once they rounded the corner of the gate enclosing the school grounds, Jeongyeon snapped again and the world erupted into sound and movement. 

They found Akari waiting nearby with her arms crossed. “Alright, let’s head out. It’s gonna be a bit of a walk, but the HCA is much closer than you’d think.” The girl turned on her heel and began walking down the long drive which led up to the school. Nayeon gave Jihyo a look, but quickly moved to keep up with the girl. 

“So you think she’s with the HCA, at one of their headquarters?” Jeongyeon asked Akari a few minutes into their walk.

“No doubt,” Akari assured. “They’d most likely not take her very far. She might be here, but she might not. We’ll see.” Akari was blunt and to the point. The friendliness she oozed only days before seemed to have been sucked from her. Jihyo could feel the girl’s discomfort and insecurity from where she was standing a few paces back. It’s funny how things had changed so quickly over the course of the past few weeks. Akari had gone from enemy to friend, and now she was something else entirely. Something in between. 

“What’s the plan?” Jihyo asked. They hadn’t exactly discussed how they’d be breaking Tzuyu out. They’d risk facing the gas that nulled their powers temporarily, and they knew the HCA had their hands on heavy-duty weapons. 

“Haven’t thought of it yet,” Akari shrugged. 

Nayeon shot Jihyo a look of “I told you so.”

“I’ve never really been one to make plans. I get there and I do whatever feels right. That’s how I always completed my missions, and I still made it out alive every single time,” Akari continued. 

That wasn’t exactly the most reassuring thing to say, but Jihyo knew the girls had a much better chance of saving Tzuyu with Akari on their side. 

 

“It’s kind of weird how Jihyo, Nayeon and Jeongyeon are all ‘asleep’ right now, isn’t it?” Dahyun observed, looking puzzled at the message Momo showed her on her phone. It was a text Nayeon had sent her recently, telling her she was tired and was heading to bed early tonight.

Momo simply shrugged, but looked slightly worried. “Nayeon’s been taking all this pretty hard.” 

“Where do you think Tzuyu is?” Dahyun asked Sana, who was laying on her bed beside her. Chaeyoung had been spending all her time at the hospital with Mina, only stopping back to their room briefly to grab some clothes and toiletries. The room felt violently empty without her presence, and so Dahyun had invited Sana and Momo to try to fill it. 

“I don’t know,” Sana answered honestly, turning her head slightly to look at Dahyun’s side profile. “Somewhere bad.”

“You think?” Dahyun replied, feeling her stomach twist. “The HCA must have her. They took her somehow. How did none of us see her at all?” Dahyun’s voice was coated with worry. Sana lifted her arm up and gently traced Dahyun’s cheekbone with her thumb and forefinger. 

“We’ll find her, okay?” Sana assured. “As soon as JYP is back from the hospital he’ll send out search parties.”

“And the police are looking for her too,” Momo added without taking her eyes off her phone screen.

“What if something happens to her?” Dahyun asked, sounding very small and afraid. Sana engulfed the younger girl in a hug, and could feel the slight tremble of Dahyun’s body in her grasp. 

“We won’t let that happen,” Sana assured. But a flicker of doubt crossed her mind. She’d barely survived a stabbing, Mina had barely survived being shot...how many more lives could be saved before their luck ran dry? 

 

After about a fifteen minute walk, the four girls stopped in front of a warehouse looking building a few blocks away from the school. “This is like deja-vu,” Nayeon muttered. “We’re not walking into another trap, are we?” In the darkness, Nayeon shot Akari a pointed glare, but Akari didn’t seem to notice.

“It very well could be,” Akari responded as she scanned the building ahead of them for any signs of activity. “But I believe they have other plans for Tzuyu. They want to isolate the gene that makes mutants different from humans.”

“There’s about twenty people in there,” Jihyo guessed, mapping out each person she could sense inside the building with her powers. She could hone in on their energy, like an aura. “And it’s Tzuyu...I can sense her. I know she’s in there.”

“Now...how do we get her out?” Jeongyeon asked, crossing her arms. 

“Jihyo...can you sense where she is exactly in the building?” Akari replied.

“She’s in a room in the basement...there’s no one else in there with her but—”

“Stay here,” Akari commanded, jumping forward into nothingness and disappearing into it. 

Jihyo, Jeongyeon and Nayeon cried out. “Dammit!” Nayeon cried. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“She went in alone?” Jeongyeon sighed. “Well, this sucks.”

“We wait...like she said. I can sense her...she’s in the room next to Tzuyu. She must be scoping out the place,” Jihyo informed her friends. A minute later, Akari appeared before their eyes again. 

As Nayeon opened her mouth to start screaming at Akari, the older girl held up a hand and smiled smugly. “Relax. I went in to get a look at the place. I had a feeling they’d be keeping her in a room that nullifies powers and I was right. They had rooms like these back in the facility I was trapped in.”

“Is she okay?” Jihyo asked, eyes widening. “Did they hurt her? Was she—”

“She seemed okay to me,” Akari interrupted. “But they’ve clearly been running tests on her. We need to get her out, now. And that means we’ll have to take out everyone in the place first.”

“Take out...as in…” Jeongyeon trailed off, looking concerned.

“Kill them,” Akari finished. After the three girls standing beside her looked at her in shock she rolled her eyes. “These are bad people, okay? It’s not like we can just make them all sleep,” Akari snapped. “We’d need Mina for that.”

The four girls stood in silence, contemplating their next move. 

“I have an idea,” Jihyo finally replied, and all girls looked to her in anticipation. “It’s going to take all of us to save her and no one will need to get hurt.”

The plan went like this:

Jihyo, Nayeon, Akari and Jeongyeon were to stick together, moving in a pack toward the room Tzuyu was being held in. Jihyo was to map out where everyone in the building was, alerting the other girls when someone was drawing near. Akari would take people out, non-lethally, as they approached the group. If anything went wrong, Nayeon would immediately turn back time to just before they entered the building. Once the girls got close enough to the room Tzuyu was being held, someone would go in and get her out while the others watched and made sure the coast was clear. They’d travel back in a pack until they were out the door safely. 

Akari circled the building until she found a side entrance. It was locked, but Akari quickly froze the door knob and kicked it off swiftly. “There’s no one close to the door,” Jihyo confirmed. “But I can feel someone nearby.”

“You ready girls?” Akari asked. Everyone nodded. “Alright, time to see what you’re all made of.” Akari slowly pushed open the door and peered inside. She looked left and right at an empty hallway. “Okay, it’s clear. We need to find stairs to get down to Tzuyu.”

The girls followed closely behind Akari. They tried going to the left at first. Akari peeked her head around the corner. The building looked somewhat like an office or school. The hallways were filled with doors leading to dark rooms. Luckily it appeared a lot of people had gone home at this hour, leaving the place relatively empty. 

“There’s someone coming from behind us,” Jihyo warned. The girls began moving faster. 

“There,” Jeongyeon hissed, pointing to a door marked “stairs.” Akari quietly opened it and the four girls shuffled inside. Nayeon quietly shut the door behind her and huffed as she chased after the other girls.

“There’s a few people down here. Scientists actually,” Jihyo replied. “Tzuyu’s room is just ahead.” 

“Remember once someone steps into that room, their powers will no longer be usable,” Akari warned in a hushed voice. They stopped outside the door, which had a small window. It was too dark on the other side to make out anything through it though. Jeongyeon tried the door handle. It was locked.

“Should’ve seen that coming,” Nayeon muttered. “Dammit.” 

“Jihyo, can you figure out where the key is?” Jeongyeon asked. Jihyo tilted her head slightly, as if she was tuning into an inaudible radio frequency. 

“I need to get closer to these people...maybe then I can figure it out,” Jihyo responded. The group of girls moved forward slightly. “There’s a man a few rooms down, let’s stop outside and see.” They moved to the door Jihyo pointed out, making sure to stay out of the view of the window on the door. Jihyo’s brow furrowed as she concentrated on sifting through the man’s thoughts. 

Suddenly Jihyo’s eyes became wider. “There’s two men coming from behind us, and they’re going into Tzuyu’s room,” Jihyo whispered. The four girls turned to face the opposite direction. 

“Perfect,” Akari replied. “We’ll let them open the door for us and break her out that way. As soon as they get the door open I’ll take them out.”

Jihyo shot Akari a look. “Temporarily, I mean,” Akari clarified. 

“You don’t need to take anyone out...I’ll just steal the key from them so we can get in once they realize they don’t have it anymore,” Jeongyeon added. 

“Fine, but that’s no fun,” Akari whined. 

The girls scrambled into the room adjacent from the one Tzuyu was being held in. Luckily this one was not locked, as the room was almost completely empty. Akari ducked down but stayed high enough to peer out the window on the door, so she could see the two men approaching. They were chatting about something, most likely a baseball game. 

Jeongyeon watched in anticipation as one man began to fish through his pocket. She snapped her fingers, causing the girls beside her to become as still as statues. Jeongyeon pushed forward, opening the door into the well-lit hallway. She swiftly reached her hand into the man’s pocket and fished out a traditional looking key, which had to be it. Jeongyeon quickly moved back inside the room across the hallway and closed the door behind her, snapping again.

The man whose key she had stolen continued to fish through his pocket. “Where is that damn thing?” he muttered to himself. 

“Minseo, how many times do I have to tell you, let me hold onto the damn key!” the other man exclaimed. “Then this would never happen!”

“I swear it was right in my pocket just a second ago!”

After the two men bickered for a few minutes more, they headed back in the direction they came from, searching the floor for any sign of the lost key.

Once the coast was clear, the four girls stepped into the hallway. Jihyo quickly moved forward to enter the room Tzuyu was in. 

“Make it snappy,” Akari told Jihyo. “We don’t have time for a long reunion here.”

Jeongyeon handed Jihyo the key and, with trembling hands, Jihyo unlocked the door and stepped inside. She squinted into the darkness and felt the wall for any sign of a light switch. Luckily, after a few tries she found it and the small room she was in illuminated with life. 

There, on a steel table, wrists and ankles restrained in leather straps, laid Tzuyu. She looked as though she were sleeping, but her face looked troubled, as if she were caught in a nightmare. Jihyo quickly moved to release her restraints, fumbling with the leather straps with nervous hands until she was able to rip them free. She gently touched Tzuyu’s forehead. “Tzuyu,” Jihyo called out to her. “Can you hear me? Wake up!”

Tzuyu’s eyes shot open and her chest heaved as she shot up. She squinted at the sudden light over head and nearly jumped after seeing Jihyo beside her. “Jihyo?” the younger girl asked, as if in disbelief. “Don’t tell me they got you too.”

“I’m here to rescue you, c’mon!” Jihyo urged, taking one of Tzuyu’s hands and yanking her toward the door. Tzuyu did as she was told, not hesitating to get off the steel table.

“How did you—” Tzuyu began, but Jihyo quickly shushed her.

“There’s no time, c’mon.” As Jihyo re-entered the threshold of the hallway, feeling her powers return to her, she immediately was overcome with a sense of panic. “They’re coming back!” 

The two men were headed this way, and they both weren’t happy—that much Jihyo could tell.

The four girls headed back for the stairs, footsteps pounding on the laminate floor. 

“Hey!” they all heard from behind them. They’d been spotted!

Jeongyeon threw open the door to the stairs and they all raced inside the stairwell, climbing the stairs two at a time. 

Akari shouldered the door leading to the first floor, the one in which they first entered, and stumbled into the hallway. The four other girls raced to keep up with her. Tzuyu could barely walk, but Jihyo was holding her up. The taller girl leaned against Jihyo as they ran forward together. 

“There’s someone—”

A bang rang out, ricocheting through the hallway and causing everyone’s ears to ring. Jihyo and Tzuyu tumbled to the ground, face first, nearly taking out Jeongyeon and Nayeon with them. Nayeon snapped her head around to see a woman running at them with a pistol raised and aimed. Nayeon clicked the neuralyzer she’d been holding in her hand this entire time, just in case, just as another shot rang out.

Nayeon almost tripped when she landed back at the bottom of the stairs. As Jeongyeon and Akari made there way up she yelled out: “There will be a woman with a gun coming from the left! We need to be ready for her.” 

Akari and Jeongyeon looked back, seeing Nayeon holding the neuralyzer in her hand, and nodded. “Alright, looks like we get to do things my way for a change,” Akari said, smirking slightly. 

The five girls made it to the top of the stairs, and Akari stood holding the door as the girls shuffled into the hallway. “Start heading toward the door,” Akari instructed. “I’ll take care of her.” 

Jihyo opened her mouth to protest but Akari held up a hand. “Go, I’ll be right behind you.”

Jihyo opened her mouth to argue but then took one look at Tzuyu, who looked like she might fall over at any moment, and simply began heading for the side door in which they entered. Jeongyeon and Nayeon followed behind. 

Akari turned back to watch the end of the hallway carefully, getting ready to deal with someone as soon as they appeared. 1. 2. A figure emerged around the corner and Akari extended her hand in its direction. 3. 4. The woman collapsed to the ground in agony, gun clanging to the floor with a thud. Akari continued to extend her hand toward the woman as she ran forward and collected the gun off the ground. The woman screamed out in pain, clutching at her head. Akari’s hand began to shake as she contorted her fingers to increase the pain the woman was feeling.

“Akari!” a voice called from the other end of the hallway. “Akari, stop!”

Akari turned back to see Nayeon standing there, eyes full of accusation and panic. It was almost as if Nayeon was waiting for Akari to kill the woman, to prove her theory right: that Akari was a deranged monster who was not fit to be a student at JYP’s school. For a second, she almost gave Nayeon that satisfaction. How nice it would feel to end this woman's life—this woman who hated her and wanted her and her kind dead. This woman who belonged to a group that nearly ended Mina's life. Mina. Mina wouldn't want this though, would she? What would she say if she was here now, watching Akari bring this woman to her knees. Surely she'd beg Akari to walk away. Akari looked back at the woman, tisked, and dropped her hand, freeing her from the excruciating pain. Akari spun around and began running toward Nayeon, much to Nayeon’s surprise. The two girls made it to the side door, in which Jihyo, Tzuyu and Jeongyeon were standing next to. Jeongyeon opened the door and the girls ran outside into the chill night air. 

They could hear shouts from the building as they grew farther from it, not slowing down until they were at least a half a mile away. Tzuyu’s legs nearly gave way and Jihyo cried out as the younger girl almost collapsed. Jeongyeon came to Tzuyu’s other side, pulling her up by putting Tzuyu’s left arm over her shoulder. 

“Hang in there,” Jeongyeon said. “We’re gonna get you home.”

Tzuyu weakly nodded as her eyes fluttered closed. The five girls traveled forward again, this time a bit slower, sticking to the shadows as they traveled through the empty streets. 

When they made it back to the front gate of the school, the girls didn’t even bother sneaking back in. If they got in trouble, so be it, but at least Tzuyu was safe. That was all that mattered. 

When the guards saw them approach, their mouths nearly dropped. Among them were students volunteering as security. A boy with blonde hair and round glasses—Jihyo knew him as Jae—stepped forward and quickly helped Jeongyeon and Jihyo with Tzuyu. 

“We’ll explain everything later,” Nayeon assured. “But Tzuyu needs medical attention now.”

“How did you manage to save her?” Another boy, a bit taller than Jae, asked. 

Nayeon tilted her head toward Akari. “It was this one,” she admitted. Akari looked surprised but didn’t say anything, she simply shrugged. 

The group brought Tzuyu inside and quickly got her to the room used for medical emergencies. It seemed these emergencies were happening more and more frequently lately. 

 

Mina’s wound should’ve taken weeks to heal, if not months, but Suzy recovered from the effects of the nullifying gas and her own bullet wound fast enough to exponentially speed up her own healing process. Nurses and doctors were baffled as after a few days of being a patient at the hospital, Suzy was on her feet as if she hadn’t just been the victim of a terrorist attack. With the help of JYP, Suzy visited all of the wounded mutants, speeding up their healing process until they were like brand new. As Suzy placed her hand lightly on Mina’s chest, Chaeyoung held her breath as she watched in awe as Mina’s face suddenly grew more colorful and rejuvenated. Mina could finally go home.

“Here’s what you asked for,” Chaeyoung replied as she handed Mina her metal chip which she’d left at the school. Mina smiled at Chaeyoung gratefully as she placed it gently behind her ear. She hadn’t had to worry much about her hypnosis getting out of control with being isolated in a hospital, but with being back at the school, seeing many more people, she wanted it on her just in case. 

JYP had a troop of vans come to pick up the mutants from the hospital to take them all back to the school. As the group exited through the front doors, they were immediately bombarded by a wave of press flashing pictures and shoving microphones in their faces.

“How will this attack affect your school moving forward?” a reporter shouted at JYP. 

“It will continue to be a safe haven for mutants. Our only wish is to be treated with respect and as equals. Until then, we will continue to keep to ourselves.”

“How is it that humans were able to stand a chance against mutants? Is it true the HCA developed a weapon to nullify your powers?” a woman shouted, nearly bumping into Mina. Chaeyoung took Mina’s hand and squeezed it as they continued to push forward through the crowd. Chaeyoung could tell the mob was stressing Mina out, and the last thing they needed was for Mina to shift with a camera pointed at her, broadcasting her every move.

Once they made it to the van Chaeyoung let out a sigh of relief. “We made it,” she said, sinking into the back seat. 

Mina looked out the window at the roaring crowd. There were protesters at the outskirts, holding signs that read things like “Mutants are not people” and “Identify all mutants and keep our children safe.”

“I can’t wait to be back,” Mina replied, “away from all this.”

“I should tell you now, that something happened to Tzuyu,” Chaeyoung blurted out. Mina’s head snapped to Chaeyoung, eyes full of alertness. “She went missing, but she’s fine now. Jihyo got her back, she texted me the good news.” 

Mina let the news sink in, taking a ragged breath. 

“I didn’t want to tell you while you were recovering. You had enough to worry about…” Chaeyoung explained apologetically. 

Mina remained silent, expression a hard mask. “They took her, the HCA, didn’t they? It wasn’t Akari...she had nothing to do with this, did she?”

Chaeyoung shook her head. “No, it was the HCA. Akari actually helped Jihyo break Tzuyu out of one of their hideouts.”

Mina looked out the window again at the chanting, red-faced mob. Her features began to shimmer and flicker, the familiar sign of her shifting. Chaeyoung took Mina’s hand and the older girl turned her face away from the window. In the short time it took her eyes to find Chaeyoung’s the shift had already occurred: she now looked like Tzuyu. “Is she okay?” Mina asked in Tzuyu’s voice.

Chaeyoung’s eyes widened slightly but she quickly recovered. “Yes, she’s fine. Just a little shaken up.” Mina breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at Chaeyoung’s hand in hers. 

She looked at Chaeyoung again and noticed the girl’s hesitant expression. “I shifted again, didn’t I?” Mina asked, and this time she heard the difference in her voice. She closed her eyes and squeezed them shut, thinking hard, willing herself to change back. After about a minute she was back to normal again. 

“You’re you again,” Chaeyoung confirmed. Mina opened her eyes and sighed again.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered to Chaeyoung, looking embarrassed.

“You have no need to be sorry,” Chaeyoung assured, gently reaching out and tucking a strand of loose hair behind Mina’s ear. “When we get you home we’ll figure this out.” 

 

A professor trained as a nurse quickly helped to make Tzuyu more comfortable as she laid in a cot with her head propped up. Her wrists were red and raw from pulling at the restraints that had held them down, and there were dark shadows under Tzuyu’s eyes that made her look five years older than she actually was. 

Tzuyu was weak from getting minimal food and not being allowed to stand at all during her time with the HCA, but she’d be alright. Jihyo sat near her bedside, remaining after the other girls had retreated to bed even though it was now the early morning. 

“You know you really scared me, right?” Jihyo said, looking at Tzuyu’s tired eyes. 

“I’m sorry,” Tzuyu murmured. “I wasn’t strong enough to fight them off…”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Jihyo scolded. “They took away your powers...how were you supposed to fight against a group of adults with weapons on your own?”

Tzuyu looked away and shrugged. 

“I’m so happy you’re okay. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Jihyo replied. “You know that I care about you...right? So, so much,” Jihyo emphasized.

Tzuyu’s breath became shaky and rapid. “Of course,” Tzuyu assured. She squeezed her eyes shut, biting her tongue and trying to hold back tears. She wasn’t successful, however. 

“Tzuyu?” Jihyo reached out and gently wiped a tear off of the younger girl’s cheek. Tzuyu put her face in her hands and began to cry softly. Jihyo stood up and pulled the girl’s upper body into her arms, embracing her in a hug. Tzuyu let herself be pulled into Jihyo, feeling slight comfort in the girl’s closeness.

Eventually Tzuyu removed her hands from her face and returned the hug Jihyo was giving her, burying her face into the crook of Jihyo’s neck. Jihyo could feel the dampness around Tzuyu’s eyes, and it made the older girl’s heart ache. 

“I gave them exactly what they wanted,” Tzuyu mumbled into Jihyo’s ear. The vibrations of the closeness of Tzuyu’s lips made Jihyo tremble slightly. “Jihyo, they took something from me.”

“What do you mean?” Jihyo asked, lightly stroking the girl’s head, running her hands through Tzuyu’s thick, purple hair. 

Tzuyu paused, gears turning in her head as she thought about how to phrase her next words carefully. Of course, Jihyo could already hear them loudly in her head—Jihyo couldn’t help herself from listening in, making sure the younger girl was really okay—but Tzuyu didn’t have to know that.

“I think...my powers are gone.” 

 

She appeared like a wisp of smoke, standing on the edge of the threshold between the hallway and the bedroom, as if she were unsure whether or not to enter the room or to remain an observer—watching silently. 

But Akari sensed her presence immediately, looking up from the book nestled in her own lap. At the sight of the other girl, Akari’s eyes widened and she let out an instinctive release of breath. 

“Hey,” Mina said cautiously, as if she were asking permission to come closer under the guise of a swift hello. She remained still like a marble statue, but her eyes were sparkling with something hopeful. 

“Hey,” Akari responded back, sitting up slightly straighter and flipping her book down on her mattress to save her page. 

There was a painful pause that Akari took advantage of to observe Mina’s appearance. It had been days since she’d last seen the younger girl, who had been lying on the ground breathing heavily as blood soaked through her school uniform. Now, here she was looking healthier, though heavy grey circles remained underneath her curious eyes. 

“You’re okay,” Akari stated. She let that statement echo through her brain, letting it soak in. Mina is okay. 

Mina nodded, smiling a tight-lipped smile. She remained in the door frame but leaned forward slightly. 

“I’m sorry,” Akari breathed out, tearing her gaze away from Mina’s face. Akari adjusted the blanket wrapped around her and pretended to look busy. 

“You saved me,” Mina replied, allowing her right foot to move forward into the room. 

“Maybe,” Akari sighed, “but if it weren’t for me you would’ve never gotten hurt. I told them all about this place. I showed them the facility with the nullifying gas. I practically gave them the keys to our destruction.” Her voice broke slightly and she gripped tightly onto the edge of her blanket. Mina watched the girl’s knuckles turn white.

“Why?” Mina took another step forward. “Why did you do that?” There wasn’t any accusation in her voice, just curiosity, and a little bit of pity. 

“I wanted to get to you and I thought that would be an easy way to do it. They were just pawns to lure you off campus. I knew I could get rid of them when they were no longer useful but...I guess I underestimated them. I guess I underestimated you,” Akari locked eyes with Mina once again.

“I tried to give you a second chance,” Mina said. “No one deserves to go through what you went through. If you hadn’t been taken when you were young—”

“—if I hadn't been taken, then what? I would’ve lived in hiding somewhere like this? Barely living a real life, terrified to be who I was born to be?” Akari’s voice was rising, causing Mina to flinch.

Noticing the slight look of fear in Mina’s eyes, Akari shook her head. “No, no, no, I’m sorry,” Akari apologized again. “You tried to help me, I see that now. You could’ve killed me but you showed me mercy. You could’ve killed me but you took me in instead. Why?”

Mina swallowed and clasped her hands together tightly in front of her. “I felt sorry for you.” Her voice was uneven and quieter than normal, but she continued to stare at Akari. 

A strange sound escaped Akari’s throat. It was one of bitterness and appreciation. “Thank you,” she whispered. 

Then Mina was moving toward her gracefully, like she was walking on clouds, and all Akari could do was watch in awe and unsureness. Mina was standing in front of her, reaching out for her hands. Akari let Mina take them, feeling the softness and warmth of the other girl’s skin against her own. 

Pathetic, isn’t it, that after all this I’d still care about you? Pathetic, isn’t it, that after all I’ve done to you that you’d still care about me, too? 

“Of course.” Mina said it like it was nothing—like making the choice not to kill Akari was as simple and easy as choosing what to wear in the morning. And she smiled at Akari, really smiled, and Akari could feel her chest tightening and her heart felt like it was exploding. Akari had almost ran from the school after the chaos that happened only days ago, but seeing Mina standing in front of her now, alive, made her stay worth it. 

“You gave me these powers,” Mina replied, image flickering and changing in front of Akari’s eyes, “and I’d like you to teach me how to control them.”


	11. Make Them Gold

“I’m sorry, but this is something that can’t be healed,” Suzy stated, taking her hand off of Tzuyu’s shoulder and looking into the girl’s eyes with a glance of pure sympathy. 

Jihyo took Tzuyu’s hand and squeezed it, watching the younger girl’s face closely. On the outside, Tzuyu was maintaining her cool, but on the inside Jihyo could tell that Tzuyu was devastated. Her super strength had been a part of her. It made her feel unique, and most importantly, powerful. Without it, in a school of people with incredible abilities, she felt pathetic. Useless, even—already more so than she was feeling to begin with. Jihyo could see all these things as she focused on Tzuyu, and her heart really went out to the girl. 

“Thank you for trying,” Tzuyu said, bowing slightly to Suzy. 

“How could this be possible?” Jihyo asked JYP, who was standing in the room scratching his skin, just as dumbfounded as everyone else.

“I’m honestly not sure, but mutations are genetic. They must have somehow found a way to isolate the gene that was mutated and correct it.” 

Tzuyu felt her stomach drop. All those tests they’d done on her...the times they put her under...all those unaccountable minutes. In that lost time they’d ripped something from her. 

“Can I...still stay here if I don’t have any powers?” Tzuyu asked JYP. 

“Of course,” JYP assured. “This is your home. We’d never ask you to leave. In the meantime, I’ll reach out to my contacts and see what they know about the government’s research on mutations. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.” 

Tzuyu nodded gratefully and watched as JYP and Suzy left the room, leaving Jihyo and Tzuyu alone. “Tell me what I can do to help,” Jihyo said as soon as the door closed behind them. “I’ll do anything.”

“There’s nothing anyone can do,” Tzuyu said in a monotone voice. She truly looked dead on the inside. “I think I just want to go back to my room and be left alone for awhile.” 

“Alright, I’ll walk you there.” Jihyo helped Tzuyu out of bed and began walking beside her through the west wing and back toward the dorms. 

_________________________________________________________

“You can be anyone. Anyone you’d like. Envision them in your head. Focus on every aspect of them. Let that feeling of falling overtake you for a bit. Lean into it, even. That’s the Shift. It’s often fast. Sometimes you can’t feel it. Sometimes it can be agonizingly slow, painful even. But once you master it you can be sure to never let either of those situations happen.”

Akari and Mina were sitting in Mina’s room. Akari was seated on Mina’s desk chair while Mina was sitting cross-legged on her bed. Mina opted to train somewhere private, knowing this could be quite embarrassing if anyone watched.

“Shifting is related to emotion. If you feel something strongly, you’re more likely to change. If you think about someone too much, you may end up looking like them.”

“I’ve shifted before because of that...three times already,” Mina admitted, “without even knowing it. I don’t want that to happen again.”

“It will,” Akari warned, “but it will happen less frequently the more you practice.”

“It makes me feel...uncomfortable,” Mina whispered—voice shy and unsure. “I don’t like the thought of not looking like myself.”

“That’s understandable,” Akari commented, “but it can actually be a lot of fun! So try to look on the bright side of things.”

“Fun?” Mina replied with wide eyes, crossing her arms. “It’s horrifying.”

“You’ve never wanted to try being someone else for a day?” Akari chuckled at that. “Sorry, if I could’ve been more selective with my collecting power, maybe I would’ve given you my ability to freeze things. Or better yet, teleport, although I’d miss that one.” 

Mina sighed. “No, I’m grateful for this. I shouldn’t be complaining, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Akari smiled. “I promise I’ll do my best to help you. Before you know it you’ll be in total control of it and you won’t have to ever shift again if you don’t want to, okay?”

Mina nodded. “Thank you.”

“Now, let’s try shifting quickly and accurately. Remember what I said, it’s about emotion and focus. You need to picture the person you want to shift into clearly in your mind and give into that tug you’ll feel. I want you to try shifting into someone now.”

Mina suddenly looked panicked and uncomfortable. “Ummm...who?”

“Anyone that comes to mind,” Akari replied, waiting patiently. 

Mina uncrossed her arms and clasped her hands together tightly. “Anyone? Oh...I don’t know…” It’s clear the girl was embarrassed beyond belief. Akari found it terribly endearing. 

“Let’s try your friends. How about Sana?” Akari offered. 

“S-sana...oh, I just feel so weird about this…”

“Mina, you can’t train if you don’t shift.”

“Right,” Mina sighed. “Okay. Sana.” She squeezed her eyes shut and thought about Sana. Sana, with her long blonde hair, and small yet bright smile. Her shining eyes…

Mina opened her eyes and looked at Akari expectantly. 

“You still look like you,” Akari said. “Try thinking about a memory you have of her. You seem focused, but you need an emotional drive as well.”

“Okay,” Mina nodded. She closed her eyes again, and this time remembered a time when she watched Sana trip on her own feet when walking outside to the garden. Sana had flailed her arms and reached out to the person closest to her, who happened to be Mina. As Sana latched onto Mina’s arm, the blonde had almost brought Mina down with her in her tumble. Instead, Mina was able to balance and hold the both of them up. Sana had immediately apologized and began giggling. 

“You’ve got it!” Akari cheered. 

Mina opened her eyes and stared back at Akari, immediately feeling self-conscious. “Really?” But as soon as she spoke she heard the difference in her voice and reached for her throat. 

“That’s the nice thing about shifting, your voice changes to match your appearance as well. Comes a lot more in handy when you’re really trying to pull someone else off,” Akari commented. 

“How do I change back?” Mina asked. 

“You just think about yourself...and who you are. This part can be more difficult. I know there were times when it took me awhile to change back.”

“Awhile to change back?” Mina gulped.

Akari smiled. “Don’t worry about it...it doesn’t happen often. But sometimes, you might get stuck.”

Suddenly Mina’s eyes were totally round and, looking like Sana, she really looked like a scared puppy. Akari had to hold back a laugh. “S-stuck?”

“I was stuck once for about a month…” Akari shrugged, and Mina looked as though she were about to faint. “But I also didn’t have an amazing teacher like you do,” Akari teased, winking at Mina. “I had to figure this out on my own, before I got captured.”

“That must’ve been hard…” Mina guessed, looking at Akari sadly. 

Akari shrugged. “I mean, looking like a celebrity for a month definitely had its perks…”

“A celebrity?” Mina looked stunned. 

“Like I said...having this power can be fun. Now, let’s focus. Let’s have you shift back to yourself. Try to find your center. Think of you.”

Mina closed her eyes again and scrunched her nose. What was her center, and who was she, really? A girl who’d had to leave her family behind...a girl who fled to a foreign country and was captured by greedy people before she found her sanctuary. A girl who accidentally killed her best friend…

“Mina,” Akari called, gently, breaking the other girl’s concentration. “You’re slowly changing back, but you still have some of Sana’s features. You need to be fully committed. Don’t let any nagging thoughts cloud your concentration.”

Mina opened her eyes and nodded. She was scared to even know what she looked like right now. She took a breath and closed her eyes again, envisioning her physical appearance and that alone...the face she saw in the mirror every day.

“Good, good,” she heard Akari say. “You’re back to normal. Did you feel the shift at all?”

Mina shook her head. “No, I felt the same the entire time...and that’s what scares me.”

“That’s okay,” Akari replied. “That’s normal...I think...for beginners. Really feeling the shift will take time. Here, let’s try again. How about Jihyo?” 

_________________________________________________________

“Do you believe in fate?” Sana asked Dahyun, laying on her back with her head hanging off the bed, hair falling straight down due to gravity. She looked like she was stuck upside on a roller coaster—not at all fit to ask such a loaded question.

“I guess?” Dahyun replied. She was spinning around in an office chair. “Why do you ask?”

“I was watching this tv show where the main character asked that question all dramatically and it got me wondering...was it fate for us to have our powers...and end up here at this school? Was it fate that I’d get stabbed and Mina’d get shot and Tzuyu would lose her powers?”

Dahyun stopped spinning and looked at Sana thoughtfully. “Believing everything’s set in stone isn’t any fun...what’s the point of doing anything if you know you can’t change what’s going to happen?”

Sana nodded. “Do you think Tzuyu will get her powers back?” 

Dahyun couldn’t answer that one, so instead she said, “I hope so.”

“I don’t know if I’d mind if I lost my powers,” Sana admitted. “It must be nice to be normal. I could be a singer...a celebrity…”

“You could still be one!” Dahyun assured. 

“I’d have to hide my powers...I’d have to hide who I was from everybody and I don’t want to do that.”

Dahyun looked down at Sana sadly. “Maybe not forever. Maybe things will change. Jihyo said public opinion is swaying slightly...people aren’t as afraid of us as they used to be.”

Sana rolled over onto her stomach and lifted herself up into a sitting position. “Maybe one day. Maybe one day I’ll actually be able to leave this place.”

“But you’d be leaving me…” Dahyun added sadly, snapping Sana from the self-pity train she’d been riding momentarily.

“I wouldn’t leave you,” Sana assured, rubbing her hand back and forth along Dahyun’s upper leg. “I’d take you with me.” 

“Do you think it was fate that you and I met?” Dahyun asked. 

Sana smiled fondly at the other girl. She patted the bed next to her and Dahyun got up and plopped down beside the blonde. “I think in a thousand lifetimes I’d find a way to meet you in every one,” Sana purred, looking at Dahyun with huge, loving eyes. If anyone else was in the room, they probably would’ve gagged at the cheesiness of the moment. For a moment Dahyun melted, but then her brain registered the cringe-worthiness of what Sana had just said. 

Dahyun hid her face in embarrassment and groaned. “Sanaaaa, you’re so cheesy.”

“But you love it,” Sana mused, putting both of her arms around Dahyun and leaning into her. 

Sana was right, Dahyun did love it. She really was a fool for this girl. 

_________________________________________________________

“How much further?” Nayeon asked with her brows furrowed, eyes hidden behind the piece of cloth Momo had tied around her head to act as a blindfold. 

 

“We’re almost there,” Momo insisted—her soft voice lighting up the darkness Nayeon was currently drowning in. Momo was guiding her forward with her hands on the older girl’s shoulders. Momo's hands were slightly chilly, but Nayeon would never tell Momo that. Instead, she endured the cold and let Momo push her forward into the unknown.

When Momo had told Nayeon she had a surprise planned for her, Nayeon instantly panicked, thinking she’d forgotten some important landmark of their friendship or relationship. Momo had laughed and assured her she just wanted to do something nice for her girlfriend. Her girlfriend. Nayeon didn’t know if she could ever think of that word without wearing a stupid, giddy smile on her face. So she let herself be blindfolded by Momo. “This isn’t something kinky...is it?” Nayeon asked, with a smug smile on her face.

“Noooo,” Momo exclaimed. “You’ll see, you’ll see.”

They’d been walking for about five minutes now. Where exactly was Momo taking her? The anticipation was nearly killing her as she felt a change in temperature and the feeling of a slight breeze. She was outside, then. “Just watch your step,” Momo whispered. Suddenly, Momo brought Nayeon to a halt. “Okay, I’m gonna take off your blindfold now.”

Momo gently slid the cloth off of Nayeon’s face and the girl opened her eyes. She was right, they were outside in the garden, standing in front of a table set up in the middle of the courtyard, complete with a red table cloth, a candle currently burning in the center, and a set of fancy plates and silverware. There were even napkins folded up like swans. Nayeon’s jaw dropped open and she tried to find the right words to describe the warmth burning through her chest all the way through her toes, but her thoughts were jumbled and incoherent. 

“I know you’ve been having a tough time recently, so I wanted to do something special for you,” Momo smiled shyly at Nayeon. “And even though you going out after Tzuyu without telling me was really, really stupid, I forgive you and I just want you to be happy.”

Nayeon threw herself at Momo and crushed her into a hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Nayeon cooed. 

“Can’t...breathe…” Momo choked out and Nayeon quickly loosened her grip around the brunette and kissed her on the cheek instead. There was a slight sniffle, so Momo leaned back to get a look at Nayeon. “Are you...crying?”

Nayeon sniffled again and shook her head. “No...there’s just something in my eye,” Nayeon assured, but her face was scrunching up as she tried to hold back tears. 

Momo simply laughed and pulled Nayeon into a tight hug again. 

“You know I didn’t tell you about going after Tzuyu because you never would’ve let me go or you would’ve insisted on going too, and I couldn’t risk you getting hurt,” Nayeon whispered. 

“I know. But what if you got hurt instead? What would I have done?”

Nayeon simply shrugged. “But I didn’t get hurt, and Tzuyu’s okay, so that’s all that matters, right?”

“You’re lucky I like you,” Momo sighed.

“You’re right, I’m so, so lucky,” Nayeon purred, snuggling into Momo. “I can’t wait to see what you prepared for me.”

Momo pulled out Nayeon’s chair for her and Nayeon’s smile grew from ear to ear as she sat down. Momo sat opposite of her and the two looked at each other with shining eyes. After a few seconds, Jeongyeon and Chaeyoung appeared, both carrying trays with plates on them. They set them down in front of the girls and stepped back. “Aw, how sweet," Nayeon gushed at her two friends.

“Sweet’s got nothing to do with it,” Jeongyeon muttered. “Momo just offered to give us both a few won.” 

Nayeon was touched Momo would spend money on her. She looked back at Momo and smiled sweetly. 

“Enjoy!” Chaeyoung called as her and Jeongyeon left to give the two girlfriends some alone time. 

The food in front of her was in no way gourmet, but the japchae and bulgogi looked well cooked and there was even a side of tteokbokki for them to enjoy. “Did you prepare this all yourself?” Nayeon asked.

“I might have had a little help, but I did most of the work!” It’s true that Sana, Dahyun and Mina had all helped a little bit, but ultimately Momo wanted to contribute to the dinner the most. 

“You’re the sweetest girlfriend ever, thank you,” Nayeon stated, staring at Momo dreamily.

“You’re welcome,” Momo smiled back, so widely her eyes began to crinkle up. “Alright, let’s eat!”

_________________________________________________________

The next day, classes resumed and the entire school picked up with its normal schedule, though things felt far from normal. There was still a deep uneasiness with the HCA invading the grounds, and word about Tzuyu’s return had spread. Now everyone knew what the HCA had done to her, and people began to wonder what implication this new victory for the HCA meant. Knowing that a mutant’s powers could be stripped from them against their will would be the HCA’s dream. If every mutant could be normalized, they’d no longer be a "threat" to humanity.

Mina and Akari had decided on meeting up after dinner every day to have training sessions. Mina was looking forward to not being so paranoid that she’d shift at any moment. She hadn’t felt this nervous since her time in high school, when she had first discovered her power of hypnosis. She had to walk around being guarded, with her heart closed. But, closing yourself off from your emotions was near impossible, especially when her heart fluttered and soared with the thought of her and Chaeyoung becoming closer over these past few weeks.

In the hallway, in between classes, Mina spotted Nayeon and Momo talking animatedly about something. Yesterday, Mina had helped Momo make a full, gourmet meal for her surprise date with Nayeon, and Mina couldn’t help but feel slightly jealous. The gesture was adorable and romantic.

Mina stared at Nayeon and Momo, playfully leaning into each other, with a bit of a far-off, dreamy look in her eye. She admired how upfront both girls could be with their feelings. It made her both happy and sad to see the two girls so clearly in love. Love was something Mina knew little about. She loved her parents. She loved her brother. She loved her dog. But she’d never known love in the romantic sense. She’d had crushes, sure. She’d even had a boyfriend, but she couldn’t say any feelings had ever developed. He was just there and he was nice. 

Momo was forward. She knew what she wanted and she went after it. Mina envied that. She was so meek that she was often too scared to draw attention to herself at all. She wished she could put herself out there and not care what others thought of her, but she just couldn’t push the self doubt out of her head. 

She remained staring dreamily until she realized everyone was clearing out from the hallways and getting ready to go to their next class. Mina peeled herself off the wall she was leaning against and took one last look at Nayeon and Momo before she adjusted her backpack on her shoulder and headed further down the nearly empty hallway to her class. 

The rest of the day went by slowly, and Mina could feel her eyes drooping as the hands of the clock ticked in circles. She saw a glimpse of Nayeon again, only Momo was not by her side. Instead, Nayeon was talking with Jeongyeon. Jeongyeon had a lazy smile on her face as the two girls waved to Mina, who politely waved back. They were standing outside of the classroom, clearly not wanting to go in just yet. 

Mina would normally join their conversation but she felt like being undisturbed today. She was one of the first people in the classroom for her last class of the day. She liked being early. Not too early, but early enough to enjoy the silence of the room before it was filled with chattering students. 

Mina sat down at her desk and grabbed her folder and notebook out of her backpack, spreading them on her desk neatly. Instantly, her mind went back to Momo and Nayeon as she sulked to herself. Would she ever be able to find a love like that? The thought came to her painfully fast, like a slap in the face. With who she was and where she was, could she be as lucky as Nayeon and Momo? She thought of Chaeyoung, and the girl’s adorable dimple, and wondered if Chaeyoung felt the same butterflies she felt when their hands accidentally touched, or their eyes met. She wished she could borrow some of the courage Momo and Nayeon had—then she could finally make a move. 

A moment later, Nayeon walked into the room but stopped short when she saw Mina. Her face instantly lit up and she practically ran over to the younger girl, leaning all of her weight into Mina as she squished her into a hug. “What are you doing here? Did you come in to surprise me?” Nayeon whispered in Mina’s ear, trailing her hand along Mina’s shoulders and back, making the girl shiver instinctively. 

“Nayeon, what—”

Nayeon firmly planted a kiss on Mina’s cheek, causing the younger girl to freeze and short circuit momentarily. “N-n-nayeon?” Mina mumbled, forcing her mouth to move. Nayeon was practically on her lap now and was snuggling into Mina. What was going on?

“You’re so cute! You just don’t stop getting cuter,” Nayeon talked in a high pitched, aegyo voice, nearly causing Mina to lose it. Mina was trying and failing not to make eye contact with Nayeon. She wanted to run out of the classroom immediately...but she couldn’t exactly do that with Nayeon on her lap.

“Nayeon!” Mina said more forcefully, but then her eyes suddenly widened at the unfamiliar sound of her own voice. It sounded different than she was used to. Cuter. Oh no. 

Mina touched her face and then reached for her hair, running her hands through it and bringing it in front of her eyes. It was light brown and longer than her own shoulder-length hair. Mina closed her eyes and thought of herself...scrunching her nose in the process. Change back, change back, change back. Find your center. She opened her eyes and her hair still looked the same...it wasn’t hers. 

“What’s wrong?” Nayeon asked, staring at Mina like she’d grown a second head. Then something clicked in Nayeon’s brain and she wordlessly turned to face Mina’s desk, snatching up her notebook. Nayeon scanned her eyes over the open page and observed Mina’s neat handwriting. She set the notebook back down slowly and jumped up off of Mina like lightning. Nayeon’s dark eyes gave Mina a once over and the younger girl could feel her face turning bright red. 

“Mina? Is that you?” Nayeon asked finally, mouth hanging open slightly. 

Mina could feel the stares of the few students in the room boring into her. She abruptly gathered her things and stuffed them into her backpack. Then she stood up in one, smooth motion and began fast-walking toward the door, brushing past Nayeon on her way out. 

“Hey!” Nayeon called after her, but Mina kept walking. 

Doing what Akari had told her wasn’t working. Don’t panic, Mina thought. She said panicking only makes it worse. Surely her professor would understand her missing the class—Mina didn’t want to be embarrassed like that in front of everyone. She couldn't bear it. 

She burst into the bathroom down the hall and leaned against the sink. Taking a breath, she slowly allowed her eyes to meet her reflection. 

Mina nearly cried out when she saw it. She wasn’t yet used to this whole shapeshifting thing and she wasn’t sure she ever would be.

“Mina?” The bathroom door slowly opened and Nayeon emerged in the brightly lit, stuffy interior. “Are you alright?”

Mina took a breath and hung her head. “No,” she sighed. “I...can’t change back.”

Nayeon’s eyes widened slightly. She leaned back on her heels and bit her lip, giving Mina another once over. “What do you mean you...can’t change back?”

“I. Can’t. Change. Back.” Mina replied, not bothering to hide her annoyance. “It’s not working!” She closed her eyes again and scrunched her nose, humming to herself. She opened her eyes again and faced her reflection. It was still the same. Not her own. 

“So you’re stuck like that?” Nayeon asked, trying to hide the amusement in her voice, but failing.

Mina took her hands off the sink and dropped her head in defeat. “For now.”

“Oh my god...what if I had kissed you on the lips back there?” Nayeon’s nose scrunched up in disgust. She made gagging noises and Mina rolled her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me it was really you sooner?”

“I tried!” Mina protested. “But you...you…”

Nayeon put her hands on her head and stood with a look of embarrassment on her face. “I can’t believe this,” she groaned. From the sound of her voice you would’ve thought she was the one stuck looking like someone else. But then Nayeon did something odd, she laughed.

“This isn’t funny,” Mina sharply declared. 

Nayeon was doubled over laughing. 

“Nayeon!” Mina whined, crossing her arms and pouting.

“I’m sorry,” Nayeon choked out in between laughs. After she finally caught her breath she stood up and looked at Mina, but she snorted and began laughing again.

“I’m just gonna go,” Mina replied. She spun around and began to stomp away.

“Wait!” Nayeon cried, running to catch up to the younger girl. She grabbed Mina’s arm and gently pulled it back, spinning the now brown-haired girl to face her again. “I’m sorry, really. It’s just...this is weird. When I’m nervous I laugh.”

“How do you think I feel?” Mina grumbled, not meeting Nayeon’s gaze. “I can’t go back to class like this. Can you tell Miss Lee that I’m not feeling well?”

“Of course,” Nayeon replied. “Is there anything I can do?” 

Mina shook her head slowly. “Akari said this might happen…”

“Well...look on the bright side...it could be worse. You could be stuck as a guy or something.”

Mina shivered at the thought.

“Now you get to be the cutest girl in the world,” Nayeon smiled, flashing her bunny teeth at Mina while giving her a smug look. Mina turned away slightly, wanting to teleport out of there. “You know, I had a feeling something was off the moment I saw you. Momo’s uniform never looks that...neat. There’s usually some sort of food stain…”

“Ick. I’m just gonna go back to my room and sleep...and when I wake up maybe I’ll be back to normal.” 

“Alright,” Nayeon replied, but she held out her hand expectantly. Mina gave her a strange look. “What? I’m gonna walk you back to your room,” Nayeon insisted.

“Is that really necessary?” Mina said. “I know where my room is and I’m perfectly safe.”

“Absolutely,” Nayeon assured, stepping forward and taking one of Mina’s hands. “You are my girlfriend, after all.” Nayeon winked and Mina just shook her head and pouted. She let herself be tugged by Nayeon out the door and into the hallway. The two walked together, side by side, and Nayeon began swinging their arms. 

Nayeon looked obnoxiously happy while Mina just looked done. Luckily the hallways were empty because everyone else was in class, or else Mina probably would’ve died from embarrassment. 

When they reached Mina’s room, Nayeon unlocked their hands and stood with an amused smile on her face. “This is the end of the road…” Nayeon sighed. “No funny business, okay?” Nayeon wagged a finger at Mina and Mina’s face contorted into one of confusion. 

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I know Momo’s super hot so don't––”

Mina sighed and quickly opened her bedroom door. Then she practically slammed it in Nayeon’s face after she stepped inside. 

_________________________________________________________

There was a knock on the door. Soft. Then one much louder. Followed by a series of knocks, increasing in volume. “Mina,” a timid voice called on the other side of the door, causing Mina to stir and eventually open her eyes. She was tangled in her sheets, enveloped in warmth. She groaned and sat up slightly. 

“Who is it?” she responded back with her throat feeling dry from her nap. Immediately she knew something was off, and she pulled a strand of her hair in front of her eyes just to check. Yup, she still looked like Momo.

“It’s Chaeyoung,” the girl on the other side of the door replied. “Are you feeling okay? Nayeon told me you were sick, so I wanted to check up on you.”

Leave it to Nayeon to run her mouth, but Mina supposed Chaeyoung would’ve swung by her room at some point later in the day regardless. 

“I’m not feeling well, I was actually just taking a nap,” Mina projected her voice loudly so Chaeyoung could hear it. 

“Oh, sorry to wake you,” Chaeyoung replied. “Do you need me to get you anything? Water...food....medicine? I could even go get Suzy?”

“No! No,” Mina pleaded. “I’ll be okay, thank you though.” 

There was a moment of silence. “Okay, well I’ll be on my way then.” There was a hint of disappointment behind Chaeyoung’s voice, making Mina feel guilty for not opening the door, but Mina didn’t want Chaeyoung seeing her like this. “Come get me if you need anything at all, okay?”

Mina nodded and then remembered Chaeyoung couldn’t see her. “Okay, I’ll do that. Thank you.”

Mina heard Chaeyoung’s retreating footsteps and sunk back into her bed. If she didn’t change back soon, she’d have to sneak out and find Akari. She couldn’t stay locked away in her room, hiding forever. For now, she closed her eyes again and attempted to fall back asleep. 

_________________________________________________________

Another knock on the door jolted Mina awake once again. She groaned, rolled over, and looked at the alarm clock on her night stand. It was 7PM—time for her training session with Akari. “Coming,” Mina called, noting the difference in her voice. She knew she still looked like Momo—she didn’t even have to check. In fact, she avoided looking at the small mirror in her room completely. She got up from her bed and opened the door, stepping aside to let Akari in. 

As the door opened, Akari yelped out in surprise at seeing a familiar face at the door, but not the one she was expecting. Before Akari could ask, Mina quickly ushered the older girl inside and closed the door. “It’s me,” Mina sighed. “I...shifted accidentally and now I’m stuck.”

Akari couldn’t help but laugh at the look of pure defeat on Mina’s face. “Poor girl. Well, I’ll try my best to help. Sometimes shifting into someone else and then shifting to yourself can be easier than just shifting back to you.”

Mina sat back down on her bed and nodded. “Okay.” She thought of Sana again, as she’d shifted into the girl rather easily the first time when she tried it yesterday.

“It’s not working,” Akari said, and Mina opened her eyes and sighed. “Is there anyone else you might have a stronger...emotional connection with? Focus on them.”

The atmosphere in the room instantly shifted and Mina suddenly looked a lot more embarrassed. 

“It’s okay, I won’t judge you,” Akari assured. “This is a non-judgment zone.”

Mina nodded. Of course her heart instantly took her to Chaeyoung. She thought about all the feelings she’d felt earlier today, the ones that had made her slightly jealous of Nayeon and Momo in the first place. 

“Mina…” The younger girl felt a soft pat on her leg. Mina opened her eyes and saw Akari moved a lot closer to her, looking at her in a gentle way. 

“You know, I never really pegged you as the type to be crushing on a taken girl, but the world is full of surprises.” The gentleness of the moment instantly faded as Akari flashed Mina her signature, wolfish smile. 

“What?” Mina asked, wide-eyed as she registered her voice sounded different once again. It wasn’t Momo’s cute and high-pitched voice but it wasn’t her own either. But Chaeyoung wasn’t taken...was she?

Mina stood up and grabbed her small desk mirror, nearly dropping it when she saw Nayeon’s reflection in the glass, except with Momo’s light brown hair and bangs. “No no no,” Mina replied, setting the mirror down and then covering her face with her hands. “I wasn’t even thinking about her,” Mina moaned in a muffled voice through her hands.

“Let me guess, Nayeon found you looking like Momo today, right?” Akari asked. When Mina simply nodded, still hiding behind her hands, Akari pressed her lips together and huffed. “Yup, that’ll do it. Sometimes your subconsciousness is more in charge of your shifting than your conscious mind. I guess that interaction was enough, whatever happened.” Akari got up from the desk chair she was sitting on and placed her hands on Mina’s shoulders. “Alright, let’s sit you down. Don’t worry, we’ll get you back to normal, I promise.” 

“I hate this,” Mina muttered. “Ah, seriously, this is so embarrassing,” she said as she let Akari guide her back to the bed. 

“Why? It’s just me, you don’t have to worry,” Akari assured. 

Mina uncovered her face and sighed. “Now what should I do?” 

“Well, you’re probably stressing yourself out too much to actually shift back at this point. I think we should take a little break.”

“A break—?” Mina whined.

Akari laughed softly. “See? You’re too panicked to think straight. It’s clouding your judgment. You need to have a clear mind if you want to control this. The more you panic, the harder it’ll be to change back.”

“Kind of like quicksand...the more you struggle, the faster you sink,” Mina replied dejectedly, staring down at the floor. 

“Exactly,” Akari cheered. “Now, try your best to relax. I’ll leave you alone so you can calm your mind,” Akari began getting up, and Mina looked at her in surprise.

“You can stay,” Mina said softly. “It’ll make me less anxious if I talk to someone, I think.”

“Oh. Okay,” Akari sat back down and tried to hide the fact that Mina’s offer had caused her chest to swell up with excitement.

“How have you been?” Mina asked. She’d never really gotten to ask the girl about her feelings about everything that had happened recently. They’d had that brief encounter when Mina returned from the hospital, but nothing more. 

“I’ve been alright, better than you,” Akari replied honestly. 

“I heard what you did with Tzuyu...helping Jihyo break her out of that terrible place. Thank you for that.”

“It was nothing,” Akari suggested.

“It was everything. Who knows what else would’ve happened if Tzuyu was held their longer!” Mina shivered at the thought. “It was nice of you to help.” 

Akari shrugged. “Yeah, poor girl.” She’d heard about the youngest of Mina’s friend group losing her powers. She knew she’d be devastated if she lost her own. 

There was another knock on the door, causing Mina to jump and Akari to turn her head with wide eyes. She’d been leaning closer and closer toward Mina as they spoke, as if by instinct, so it was good that something pulled her away. 

“Mina?” a soft voice called, and Mina immediately recognized it as Chaeyoung once again. “Sorry to wake you. I just figured you probably didn’t eat anything for dinner so I wanted to bring some food down for you. You know, just in case you were hungry.”

Chaeyoung was so thoughtful, and Mina had to admit her stomach did feel rather empty, but this was the worst possible time for the younger girl to come knocking again. She knew she couldn’t turn her away again, especially not when she had food. 

“Chaeng—”

But before Mina could respond, Akari was on her feet and stalking toward the door. She opened it quickly and Chaeyoung’s eyes widened at the sight of Akari answering Mina’s door. She’d figured since Mina was sick that her training session with Akari would’ve been cancelled, and now Chaeyoung felt really stupid. 

“Oh, I forgot about your training sessions, I’m sorry,” Chaeyoung apologized. 

“Mina’s...still not doing great,” Akari replied, staring Chaeyoung down with a bit of a challenging glare. “I can take the food and give it to her.”

Mina was on her feet at once, pushing past Akari so Chaeyoung could see her. In the spur of the moment, she’d forgotten that she looked like Nayeon, so when Chaeyoung let out an exclaim of surprise she silently kicked herself.

“Oh, sorry, it’s me,” Mina replied in a soft and embarrassed voice. “Thanks for coming by, you can come in.” And so Chaeyoung stepped inside Mina’s room, and suddenly the walls felt suffocating with the presence of those three specific girls inside.

Akari shut the door and tried her best to contain her annoyance. Not that she should be feeling that way...it’s not like she owned this time with Mina...but she couldn’t help it. 

“I shifted accidentally again today,” Mina explained, noticing Chaeyoung’s curious stares. “I’m not really sick but I’m just...stuck. I didn’t want you to see me like that earlier. I didn’t want anyone to see me, really.”

Chaeyoung set her paper bag down on the desk and looked back at Mina. She didn’t want to stare...but she really couldn’t help it. It was quite a sight to see Nayeon sporting Momo’s hair and bangs. “Oh, I’m sorry you’re dealing with that. Well, here’s some food for you. I didn’t bring any for you Akari...I didn’t think you guys were doing this tonight...but um...I’ll let you guys get back to it then. If you need anything I’ll be in my room.”

“We’ll be alright here,” Akari stated, looking at Chaeyoung levelly. 

“Thanks, Chaeng,” Mina replied gently, giving the shorter girl a thankful smile. “If I’m back to normal I’ll come by and see you later tonight.” 

Chaeyoung smiled back and began to retreat toward the door. As she exited, Akari gave her one last scowl before she shut the door behind her. 

“Did you have to be so rude?” Mina asked Akari, looking at her with accustatory eyes. “She was nothing but nice to you the entire time you’ve been here.”

Akari didn’t like to see that look from Mina. It made her feel small and guilty, and she hated that someone else had that power over her. Akari played it off though, trying to act cool. “I wasn’t trying to be, but whatever. I just don’t want her to ruin your focus.”

Mina couldn’t help but roll her eyes, but she just shrugged it off. “Okay, well I might as well eat while we wait for my head to clear. Did you eat something?”

Akari simply nodded and grabbed the paper bag filled with food and handed it to Mina. 

_________________________________________________________

Classes had begun again, but Tzuyu was excused from them until she felt up to going again. She wasn’t sure when that would be, but she knew she’d be crossed off the attendance list from their powers training course indefinitely. Occasionally, she’d close her eyes and try to focus her strength, but nothing worked. She even punched her wall in frustration, only earning a bruised knuckle and a crash of pain that was so hot and unbearable that she nearly fell to the floor. 

The bang was loud enough to earn the attention of Dahyun and Sana, who happened to be sitting in the room next door. Dahyun practically kicked down Tzuyu's door and the two girls rushed inside the room, prepared to fight. When they saw Tzuyu sitting on the floor, cradling her right hand, Sana instantly got on her knees beside Tzuyu, asking what happened in a gentle and worried voice. Tzuyu didn’t want them to see her like that—with cheeks red from crying—but here they were. Tzuyu let Dahyun and Sana hug her as she gently cried into Sana’s shoulder. 

Jihyo visited often. Tzuyu pretended to be annoyed with every visit, but Jihyo could tell that the younger girl secretly enjoyed her company—longed for it, even. That made Jihyo, secretly, very happy. 

“I think I know something that will cheer you up,” Jihyo said to Tzuyu, who was engrossed in something on her laptop (Jihyo knew Tzuyu was doing extensive research into the genetics behind mutants, but information was very limited and was also censored by the government). 

“And what’s that?” Tzuyu asked, looking up briefly to glance at Jihyo, who was laying on Chaeyoung's bed with her phone in hand.

“You and I are going to go out to a mall.”

“A mall?” Tzuyu asked incredulously. “We couldn’t go outside the gate...not with—”

Jihyo held up a hand and turned around. “I have a surprise for you…” She was facing away from Tzuyu, reaching into her purse. Her hand moved around for a minute, but Tzuyu couldn’t see what she was doing. Eventually Jihyo turned around, and Tzuyu became breathless for a moment. 

Jihyo’s right eye...her beautiful, blue left eye that allowed her to see people’s true natures and thoughts, was gone. Instead, Tzuyu was looking at a girl with two dark brown eyes staring back at her. “I got a colored contact lens, see? You can’t tell I’m a mutant, can you?”

“But...JYP will never let us go—”

“I’ve already made arrangements with him,” Jihyo replied, smiling from ear to ear. “We’re gonna go tomorrow. We’re going to drive right out those gates and go to a mall. And we’re gonna get you some cute new clothes and we’ll go to a nice restaurant and even see a movie, if you want.”

The idea was rather tempting. Tzuyu hadn’t gone to a movie theater in years. In fact, she didn’t know what was even playing currently, but the thought of watching a story of a far away place being projected on the big screen sounded exhilarating. But then it clicked to Tzuyu why Jihyo had set up this excursion, and that happiness deflated instantaneously. 

“Am I that pathetic that I think you can take me out on...a date...and I’ll suddenly be happy again?”

Jihyo’s smile vanished as she looked at Tzuyu’s hurt expression. “Tzuyu...I don’t think you’re pathetic….I just thought—”

“You just thought we’d go out and do human things since I’m a human now.” 

“Of course you’re human, and I’m human too. We all are. Just because we have powers doesn’t—,” but Jihyo quickly realized she misspoke and bit her tongue. “Tzuyu, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry this happened to you. But you’re more than just your super strength, you know? You weren’t defined by just your power. I hate to see you like this.”

Tzuyu sighed. She knew Jihyo was right, but it was easy for her to say those things when she wasn’t the one whose powers were taken from her. “I’m sorry,” Tzuyu whispered. “I didn’t mean to lash out at you like that. I’m just so angry. And sad.” 

Jihyo got up and sat next to Tzuyu gently taking the laptop from the girl and setting it aside. “I know, and I understand. I can’t possibly imagine what you’re going through. But I want to do my best to make sure you still enjoy yourself. You’re still a kid...you shouldn’t be carrying such a heavy burden on your shoulders.”

“Thank you,” Tzuyu replied, genuinely touched. Jihyo pulled the girl into a hug and Tzuyu reciprocated it gladly. 

“Also, did you say ‘date’?” Jihyo asked as she released Tzuyu from her embrace. Tzuyu turned away, immediately regretting her choice of words.

“Well that is what a date is, isn’t it? Going out to eat...seeing a movie…” The younger girl was practically curling in on herself in embarrassment. 

Jihyo laughed softly. “Well, you’re right. I guess it is a date then.”


	12. Dark Side of the Gym

Turns out, under pressure, Mina has no control over her shapeshifting abilities whatsoever. Not even Akari’s coaching could get her out of the predicament she was in, much to her despair, and so Akari left Mina’s room around 10PM that night being unsuccessful. 

Mina laid on her bed on her stomach, face pressed against her mattress, groaning. Akari had told her it was all in her head—this mental block—stopping her from shifting again, but Mina was convinced the universe was hellbent on embarrassing her. 

She wanted so badly to visit Chaeyoung and thank her again for bringing her dinner. Could she face Chaeyoung looking like this though? Could she even bare to cross the hallway to the younger girl’s room? Mina was determined to stay hidden and locked away until she looked like herself again, but what if she was stuck like this for another day? Another week? Another month? Another year? What if she was stuck like this forever?!?!

At that dreadful thought, Mina sat up and shushed her nagging brain. She decided she’d visit Chaeyoung. A quick knock on the door, and she’d ask Chaeyoung to come back to her room. She didn’t want to face Chaeyoung’s roommates like this. She was sure Dahyun would never let her live it down. 

And so, like lightning, Mina raced out her door and knocked three times on Chaeyoung’s door, praying that the short girl herself would be the one to answer it. It turns out Mina was in luck, because it was Chaeyoung’s face who she saw gingerly poke out from inside the room. (It wasn’t luck really, it was Chaeyoung sitting on the edge of her bed waiting anxiously to see if Mina would visit her after her session with Akari, and the girl practically jumped when she heard a knock on the door). 

“You’re still…” Chaeyoung replied, looking at Mina with wide eyes.

“Yeah,” Mina said quietly, avoiding eye contact all together. “Would you like to come back to my room so we can talk there?”

Chaeyoung nodded, turning back around to tell her roommates where she was headed, before she followed Mina back into the hallway, across the way to her bedroom. 

“So you can’t change back?” Chaeyoung began, looking at Mina with a hint of shyness, as if she weren’t supposed to be looking at Mina at all. 

Mina shook her head sadly. “I tried so hard...but nothing happens. Akari says it’s normal, and that I’ll shift back when I shift back. I just hope it’s sooner rather than later.” Mina looked absolutely humiliated, and she was hiding behind her hair again, only this time there was more hair for her to hide behind. “But I wanted to thank you for bringing me dinner earlier. That was very thoughtful for you.”

“It was nothing,” Chaeyoung smiled. “I figured you’d be hungry.”

“I was starving,” Mina confessed. “And there was no way I’d leave my room looking like…you know.”

“You can’t hide away in here forever,” Chaeyoung replied. “You shouldn’t be embarrassed. Everyone knows you just got this new power, and no one was in control of their powers when they first developed. Do you know what I did when I first got mine? I accidentally squirted a tube of paint all over myself and some of my classmates during my art class in elementary school. I’m talking green in my hair that wouldn’t come out for days.” 

Mina smiled slightly at that, imagining a little Chaeyoung in art class, but it quickly faded as she grew self conscious once again. “I know...but it’s still embarrassing. I’m horrified I’ll run into Nayeon. She’ll really never let me live this one down.”

Chaeyoung knew Mina was right, but she’d fight Nayeon if the older girl tried to pick on Mina. “Don’t worry, I have loads of embarrassing stories to blackmail Nayeon with if she tries anything at all.”

Mina didn’t doubt that. Nayeon was quite gifted at embarrassing herself in any given situation but still managing to think she was the coolest girl in the room. 

“Earlier today I accidentally shifted into Momo without knowing it,” Mina confessed. “Nayeon saw me and thought I was actually her at first,” Mina’s voice trailed off as she thought about that awkward encounter: Nayeon practically sitting on her lap and kissing her cheek. Mina's cheeks began to flame, just thinking about it. “It was horrifying.”

Chaeyoung could imagine that encounter and couldn’t help but smile. “I bet she got a kick out of that. So she found out it was you, right? And that’s why she told me you were sick?”

Mina nodded. “I’m glad she didn’t tell anyone else.” In fact, it was actually a blessing that her entire group of friends hadn’t found out about her predicament already. But maybe Nayeon was a bit embarrassed too, and slightly grossed out that she’d kissed someone who wasn’t her girlfriend on accident. 

“Well, your secret is safe with me as well,” Chaeyoung assured. 

“Thank you,” Mina whispered, and smiled a slight, closed-mouth smile at Chaeyoung. 

“So you were thinking about Momo, hm?” Chaeyoung teased slightly, causing Mina to hold up a hand and wave it dismissively.

“I was just admiring her and Nayeon together...they make such a cute couple, don’t they?” Mina asked, anticipating Chaeyoung’s reaction.

“They do,” Chaeyoung agreed. “They’ve been so cute with each other for as long as I can remember. I’m happy Momo finally asked Nayeon out.” 

Mina smiled at that. “It must have taken a lot of courage but it was definitely worth it.” Her and Chaeyoung fell into a comfortable silence. Mina wanted so badly to kiss Chaeyoung—thank goodness her chip was firmly in place behind her ear, blocking any unwanted hypnosis—but she stayed frozen. You look like Nayeon, Mina reminded herself. Not a good time. So, Mina simply allowed herself to gaze at Chaeyoung’s lips while the younger girl looked down at her shoes. 

“When you shift, do you feel any different?” Chaeyoung asked, ungluing her eyes from the floor and turning them to look at Mina.

Mina instantly tore her eyes away, focusing on her desk instead. “No, not at all. I just look different and sound different...but that’s it.” 

“So your ego didn’t dramatically increase in size or anything?” Chaeyoung joked, and Mina caught a glimpse of the girl’s snaggletooth that made her look more like a lion cub than an eighteen year old girl. 

Mina smiled at that. “I don’t think any superpower can replicate the force of nature that is Nayeon’s ego.” They both laughed. 

“Well, it’s late, I should be heading to bed soon.” Chaeyoung got up off of Mina’s bed and turned around to look back at Mina. “Thanks for letting me know how you were doing.”

“Of course,” Mina replied. She stood up too, and moved closer to Chaeyoung. They both moved toward the door together. “Thanks for...everything.”

Chaeyoung turned her head to look at Mina and offered another smile. “Hopefully you’re back to normal before morning, huh?”

“Yeah, I can’t go to classes like this,” Mina said, suddenly looking horrified. Chaeyoung giggled. 

“Well, here,” Chaeyoung stood up on her tiptoes and her face suddenly grew closer and closer to Mina’s. Mina gulped and watched in fascination and anticipation as Chaeyoung brought her lips to Mina's cheek. Chaeyoung’s lips were soft and warm, and they only remained pressed for about a second before Chaeyoung pulled away. “Maybe that’ll help you get back to normal. I’d give you more but...you know...that’d be a little awkward under the given circumstances.”

...more? What did Chaeyoung mean by that? Mina’s heart was already about to burst, she wasn’t sure she could possibly withstand anything more than that without collapsing. “T-thanks,” Mina said, feeling her cheeks burn a crimson red. 

Chaeyoung smiled up at Mina a bit longer before she opened Mina’s door. “Goodnight!” Chaeyoung stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her. Mina remained standing in place for a few more minutes with a gummy smile on her face before she retired to her bed. 

 

The next day rolled around, and Nayeon walked into her 10AM abilities class half awake. She didn’t have to stay up as late as she did the night before, but Momo had come over and the two of them were watching prank videos together, laughing hysterically. Jeongyeon and Jihyo both stayed up late usually, so they didn’t mind the extra noise.

“Where’s Mina?” Jihyo asked, noticing that their friend was nowhere to be seen and class was about to start. Before Nayeon could even answer, she knew her thoughts were betraying her, because Jihyo gave her a weird look but said nothing.

“She must still be sick,” Nayeon explained. “She wasn’t feeling good yesterday…”

“Poor girl,” Jeongyeon mused. “It’s probably the stress of everything that’s happened weighing down on her.”

“Alright everyone,” their professor, Nichkhun, called. “Time to get started.” He motioned for all the students to join him in the center of the room.

As soon as class was over, Nayeon took advantage of her short break before her history class started and hustled over to Mina’s room. She wanted to visit and check up on the girl. Did Mina still look like Momo?

 

 

“Mina?” Nayeon asked outside the door. She didn’t hear a response, so she knocked once before thrusting the door open. She caught Mina, who was awake and wearing headphones, completely off guard. In a flash, the younger girl, who was laying on her bed, threw her comforter up over her body so that was was completely covered. “Mina, are you alright?” Nayeon asked earnestly. Luckily, Nayeon hadn’t gotten a good look at the girl—she’d simply seen a flash of brown hair and assumed that Mina was still sporting Momo’s looks. 

“I’m fine,” Mina muttered under the blanket while pulling her earbuds out of her ears. “You can’t just come into people’s rooms like that!”

“I knocked first,” Nayeon stated simply. “And I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I was worried about you, you know. Now come out from there,” Nayeon urged. “You’re being silly.” 

Mina shook her head. “No.”

“Mina,” Nayeon warned. “Seriously, come out from there. Why are you hiding?” 

“Can you please go?” Mina asked. Her voice was muffled but Nayeon could tell something was up. It didn’t sound like Momo’s at all. 

Nayeon crossed her arms and continued to stare at the shape under the covers that was Mina. “Nope, not until you show me you’re okay.”

“I’m fine, believe me,” Mina assured. 

“Then why don’t you come out from there, huh?” Nayeon teased. She walked over to the bed, and grabbed the comforter. Mina could feel a slight tug so she gripped the comforter as well and held it down with all her strength. 

“Seriously?” Nayeon nagged. She was not about to let Mina win this one. She was determined to be as nosy as possible and she wouldn’t let Mina spoil her fun. She yanked on the comforter hard, and Mina cried out as she was stripped of her barrier and shield, squinting at the exposure to the harsh, bedroom light overhead. 

What Nayeon saw made her gasp. As soon as Mina was exposed, the girl quickly hid her face with her arms and hands, but not before Nayeon got a quick look. “No way…” she murmured, staring at Mina in fascination. 

“Nayeon, please go,” the younger girl begged, and finally Nayeon figured why Mina's voice sounded so familiar yet so strange. It was the voice Nayeon heard when she was recorded—the version of her voice that sounded different than the one she heard through her own ears when she talked. 

“I knew you were hiding something!” Nayeon announced. “First Momo, now me...what’s the big idea Myoui, hmmm?” 

“It’s all an accident,” Mina sighed, still covering her face. 

“I’m sure,” Nayeon teased. “Wow, just when I thought things couldn’t get any weirder.”

“I didn’t want this to happen,” Mina assured. “I just want to be myself again.”

“Move your hands, I can’t hear you,” Nayeon instructed, and Mina did as she was told, keeping her head down.

“Akari couldn’t help you?” Nayeon asked, trying her best not to stare at Mina (but that was impossible...I mean, Nayeon was looking at a copy of herself). 

Mina just sadly shook her head. 

“I don’t look bad with bangs,” Nayeon noted, and Mina fell back onto her bed and turned away from Nayeon. “What, I’m just saying!” Nayeon cried. 

After a few seconds of mopey silence, Nayeon sat down on the edge of Mina’s bed. “I’m sorry,” Nayeon said gently. “You’ll be back to your grouchy self in no time, don’t worry.”

Mina said nothing but sighed and continued to stare at the wall. 

“But in the meantime, no funny business with me either. Wait…” Nayeon’s eyes widened. “You haven’t...changed out of your clothes or taken a shower, have you?”

Mina’s body froze up and she felt a weird sound erupt from her throat. “Of course not!” Mina practically yelled. “I’ve been in the same clothes this entire time because I haven’t been myself since yesterday.”

“Phew, good. Or else that would be embarrassing,” Nayeon laughed awkwardly. “Thanks for respecting my privacy. But you know, I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to look…”

Mina was internally screaming at this point and she was so tempted to kick Nayeon off her bed. “Stop it.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Nayeon snickered. It really was too fun to tease Mina. At Mina’s adorable pout—her own adorable pout, actually—Nayeon couldn’t help but smile. “So what are you gonna do, just hide in here until you change back?” 

Mina simply nodded.

“What if that takes awhile?”

Mina sighed.

Nayeon did something bold. She laid down next to Mina, on the same, twin bed, and snuggled her face into the back of Mina’s head. She inhaled and discovered that Mina still smelled like herself—a magical, expensive scent that seemed to linger wherever she went. It wasn’t overpowering, but rather a soft, concealed fragrance that you just barely tickled your nose with a pleasant jasmine smell. 

Mina scooched her body away from Nayeon so that she was pressed against the wall. In return, Nayeon scooched over and continued to snuggle into her. 

“What are you doing?” Mina asked. She sounded too tired to put up a big fuss. 

“Trying to make you feel better,” Nayeon replied. “Is it working?”

“No.”

Nayeon simply smiled at Mina’s moodiness. “You know, anyone else would probably be taking advantage of your power. I know I would. I’d mess around with everyone.”

She’d love to pick on Dahyun especially. Tzuyu too, it’d be fun to get a reaction out of her. Nayeon prided herself on being good at mimicking her friends, so she could surely get away with a lot of things. 

“Well, I’d never do that,” Mina stated.

“Oh c’mon, you don’t think it’d be fun to trick Dahyun into thinking you were Sana to get her all flustered? I’d probably do the same with you and Chaeyoung…” Nayeon smiled mischievously.

Mina groaned. Nayeon was infuriating. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she whined. 

“It’d be funny to see Chaeyoung’s face if you actually made a move for once. She’d be taken so off guard.” 

Mina stayed silent. Nayeon had backed her into a literal corner. She’d never been more embarrassed in her life.

“That’s right, everyone knows you like Chaeng,” Nayeon whispered. “Seriously Myoui, if your puppy dog glances weren’t enough, your adoring comments are the biggest red flag I’ve ever seen. You might as well be carrying a sign around 24/7 that says: 'Mina loves Chaeyoung' on it.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Mina murmured, but she knew any resistance was futile.

“I see right through you,” Nayeon stated levelly. “And I have good reason to believe Chaeng likes you too. So one of you better do something about it before I pull my hair out.” 

Mina sighed. “I’m not good at this sort of thing.” 

“You just gotta go for it. Don’t think about it.” 

“Easier said than done,” Mina sighed again, sounding defeated. 

“Well, I’m rooting for you. We all are,” Nayeon assured. She stealthy moved her hand up until she began running her fingers through Mina’s hair. “So soft, just like Momo’s,” Nayeon mused.

Mina would’ve smacked her hand away if it didn’t feel so relaxing. In fact, she hated to admit it, but Nayeon was giving her a strange sense of comfort during such a weird time. She let her body relax and closed her eyes, letting Nayeon play with her hair, until she drifted off to sleep. 

 

 

Nayeon kept running her hands through Mina’s hair like she did for Momo sometimes, until Mina’s body shook slightly and before Nayeon’s eyes, Mina’s light brown hair began to shorten and grow darker. Nayeon retracted her hand, watching with wide and frightened eyes as the girl before her changed. Nayeon sat up slowly and leaned forward to get a look at Mina’s face, which was still turned away from her. Sure enough, Mina was back to normal. 

Mina looked incredibly peaceful, sleeping away. The sight was so endearing, Nayeon felt her chest tighten up. Whenever Nayeon saw Mina, she normally looked troubled or sad. It was a nice sight to see her looking relaxed. Satisfied, Nayeon stealthily slid off Mina’s bed and pulled the covers up over the girl so she could stay nice and warm. Then, Nayeon crept toward the door and opened it slowly…

...to reveal a surprised looking Akari with her hand raised, as if she were about to knock on Mina’s door.

“Oh, you finally got her hair right,” Akari said, giving Nayeon a small and awkward smile. Akari lowered her hand and stepped back slightly. 

It took Nayeon a few seconds before she realized Akari thought she was Mina. There’d be no way Akari would smile at her like this. They might have been on better terms now that Akari helped save Tzuyu, but Nayeon still didn’t trust the girl. She probably never would. 

There was a brief pause as Nayeon shut the door gently behind her. She looked back at Akari and made her decision. “Yeah, but I’m still stuck,” she mused. She pouted the way she’d seen Mina pout earlier. She could already see Akari soften up before her eyes. 

“Well, I just wanted to check up on you to see how you were doing,” Akari replied. 

“Thanks, but you can stop following me around like a lost puppy, you know,” Nayeon said.

Akari’s eyes practically bugged out of her head at hearing this attitude from “Mina.” 

“It’s getting a little annoying and to be honest...it’s kind of creepy.”

Akari felt her jaw slack, and her tongue felt weighed down and heavy. It was as if Mina had slapped her in the face.

“Your little crush just isn’t cute anymore. Actually, it never was.” Nayeon took a step away from Akari, further down the hallway. “It’s never gonna happen between us, okay? You nearly killed my friends. How could I ever like a m u r d e r e r?” Nayeon drew out the last word, letting it hang in the air longer than it should have. It felt all the more powerful that way. At seeing Akari’s absolutely broken expression, Nayeon smiled smugly to herself. 

“Besides, I like Chaeyoung. So you should just save yourself the strife and find someone else to pine after.” With that, Nayeon spun around and began walking away. For effect, she decided to knock on Chaeyoung’s door. Nayeon walked confidently away, though she felt a pit growing in her stomach. This is for Mina’s own good, she reminded herself. The sooner Akari left JYP’s School, the safer everyone would be. Nayeon knew the only thing keeping Akari here was Mina, so the sooner that connection was severed, the better.

Akari could only stand in the hallway numbly, watching “Mina” walk away. Nayeon knocked loudly on the School Meal Club’s door. Dahyun answered, and Nayeon simply pushed past her to get inside. 

Akari wanted to destroy something. Absolutely decimate it. She considered punching a wall. She moved in circles, feeling dizzy and out of place. The walls were moving toward her, boxing her in like the room Mina had left her in months ago. Scared and alone...she thought she was going to die there. But as soon as more people arrived, when she was on the verge of dying from dehydration, she tore her way out of the building the first opening she got. She was savage. She was brutal. She left a wake of blood behind her. But she escaped. She survived.

She would survive this, too. 

 

 

 

Jihyo knocked on Tzuyu’s door a minute after she said she would. Tzuyu, waiting anxiously with her shoes and jacket on, quickly sprung up to open it. “Have fun!” Dahyun called to Tzuyu, smiling from ear to ear with that blinding smile of hers until Tzuyu simply nodded and closed the door behind her.

Jihyo was wearing a long, plaid trench coat with large buttons going down the middle. Her face was partially hidden by a wide, black scarf that wrapped around her head several times. She was cute. Adorable, actually. Tzuyu didn’t even have to see the bottom half of her face to know that she was smiling. Her eyes reflected that much.

Her eyes. Jihyo’s very unique blue eye was gone. Instead, two brown ones stared back warmly at Tzuyu. The sight was shocking at first, even though Jihyo had told her yesterday that she’d be wearing a colored contact lens. It almost made Jihyo look like a different person entirely. Tearing her gaze away from Jihyo’s eyes, Tzuyu resumed looking down at Jihyo’s coat. 

“How do I look?” Jihyo asked, batting her eyes at Tzuyu a few times for effect.

Tzuyu remained silent for a moment, looking down at Jihyo with a very slight smile on her face. She opened her mouth to say something…

“Like a normal human, right?” Jihyo injected. 

Tzuyu closed her mouth and nodded thoughtfully. She suddenly regretted wearing her more fashionable fall coat that’d probably do nothing to keep her warm. She tightened her grip on her small purpose anxiously.

“You ready?” Jihyo asked, voice slightly muffled. 

Tzuyu nodded and followed Jihyo, who began walking toward the front of the school, toward the gate where the assortment of vehicles were kept for strictly school use. It was nice that Jihyo could drive (driving was actually a required course after a student turned 20 years old, JYP thought learning to drive was important). She slipped into the driver’s seat of a sleek looking black car, while Tzuyu got into the passenger side. The garage door opened and Jihyo slowly pulled the car out, giving the guards at the gate a wave as they left the school grounds. 

Tzuyu watched with wide eyes as they began to drive down the long road which led up to the school. It was a long and windy path, and Tzuyu took in the bare trees and muted colors of the snowless winter ground. “It’s so nice to be out of there...on my own accord. Staying there for so long can be…”

“Suffocating?” Jihyo guessed. She’d pulled her scarf down so that it was no longer covering her face because she blasted the heat in the car until the windows all fogged up slightly.

“Yeah,” Tzuyu responded. “So thanks for this.”

“Of course!” Jihyo answered cheerfully, smiling at Tzuyu warmly. “I’ve been wanting to get off the campus too. We’re gonna have so much fun! I have some ideas for us to do but we can feel it out when we get there! We can do whatever you want! There’s a movie theater, a dessert shop, a good selection of restaurants...we can buy you a nice and heavy winter jacket!” 

Tzuyu looked down at her thin, fall jacket and nodded. “I looked up a movie for us to see. It’s called Left Behind. It’s a mystery thriller but it looks promising. There’s a showing in a few hours.”

“Perfect!” Jihyo cheered. She cranked up the radio slightly as a Taeyeon song came on and hummed along to herself. “Let’s grab dinner before hand then, and we can check out a few shops too!”

Jihyo was a surprisingly aggressive driver. She gave Tzuyu a few apologetic looks as traffic became heavier and she had to slam on the breaks. She even stuck out her right arm and held it out in front of Tzuyu in an attempt to buffer the consequences of an abrupt stop. “Sorry, I don’t drive a lot,” she smiled with a hint of embarrassment. 

Tzuyu was excited to learn how to drive, but she couldn’t help but feel slightly worried by the other people on the road. They were often reckless. 

After about a half an hour drive, they made it to a surprisingly large mall with a parking lot that wrapped around it. Jihyo found a parking spot outside of the movie theater. After wrapping up her face in her scarf again, Jihyo opened her door and ventured out into the cold. Tzuyu followed with chattering teeth. They hurried inside the mall, practically running. 

But before they made it inside, Tzuyu stopped and yelled: “Jihyo?”

Jihyo slowed her fast walk down and spun around to face the younger girl. 

They were standing a few feet apart on the sidewalk right outside the entrance of the movie theater. Had it been snowing, it might have looked like a scene directly out of a kdrama. 

“You look really nice,” Tzuyu replied, with her hands jammed into her pockets and her lips pressed together. “But I think you look even prettier with your two different colored eyes. It suits you well.” 

Tzuyu only gave Jihyo a second to digest that compliment before she continued walking toward the door, brushing past Jihyo playfully. Jihyo was reminded of how cold it was outside once again—in that brief moment the unpleasantness of that had faded away—but now it was back. Jihyo rushed forward to keep up with Tzuyu’s long steps. Secretly, she was beaming. 

“Ah, it’s so nice and warm in here,” Jihyo sighed happily once they made it far away from the exit. The place was bustling with normal weekend activity. Not once did anyone give either Jihyo or Tzuyu a second glance, and it felt nice. 

“Let’s walk around and find a restaurant! What are you in the mood for?”

“Anything really,” Tzuyu said. The two girls walked closely down the large mall corridor, with their arms brushing slightly. 

Once they’d walked about five minutes away from the theater, they stopped at a cute, sit-down ramen bar. “How about here?” Jihyo asked, only because she noticed Tzuyu’s eyes light up slightly when she saw the menu displayed in the window. Tzuyu nodded eagerly and Jihyo grabbed Tzuyu’s hand, which was cold to the touch, and pulled her inside. 

They were seated at a bar like area, just chatting about little things, as they looked at the menu and pondered what they’d order. A man seated next to Jihyo—a middle-aged man with thick glasses and a generally unpleasant look about him—was muttering something loudly to the man on seated on his other side. This man was clearly younger, but had the same, worn look about him. Perhaps they were coworkers. 

“It’s just insanity that nothing’s being done,” the older man was saying—voice rising with his alcohol intake. “We’re just sitting here and letting them take over. They’re infiltrating our government. Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if ten percent of all of our representatives weren’t human.”

The younger man looked like he disagreed slightly, but didn’t dare say a word to confirm this. 

“Anyone in here could be a monster and we wouldn’t know it!” The man began pointing his finger at everyone nearby, slightly slurring his words together. 

Tzuyu and Jihyo looked up in alarm at the man. Tzuyu’s brow was furrowed while Jihyo’s eyes were slightly big. She leaned closer to Tzuyu, trying to put some distance between her and the loud man.

“We need to start arming ourselves...testing them to see their weaknesses…” the man mumbled. “If the Mutant Registration Act doesn’t get revised and readdressed, we’re fools.” 

“They’re still people, they have rights,” the younger man beside him adjusted his glasses and said quietly. “Registration has never led to anything good in history.”

“You’re sympathetic toward their cause, huh?” the older man moved much too close to the other’s face. “You’re not one of them, are you?”

Tzuyu began to grip Jihyo’s arm hard. Jihyo turned to looked at the younger girl, who appeared to be trying her best to hold back. Jihyo shook her head, hoping her eyes expressed the importance of Tzuyu keeping her mouth shut. This was not a fight worth fighting—not in a very public place. 

“No,” the man denied. “Just a man with some compassion.”

“Compassion will only get you killed!” the older man cried. “I’m glad at least some people have the guts to do what’s right while their government sits back and does nothing.”

“The HCA are terrorists that murder innocent people. Children, even.” The words came out quickly. Jihyo looked at Tzuyu with wide eyes before she realized they’d actually come from her own mouth. She’d spoken without thinking. Now, the man sitting next to her was glaring at her with a sneer, as if sizing her up. “Sir,” she quickly added on the end, hoping that some form of respect might stop him from losing his temper. 

“Didn’t you hear what happened recently at that school for freaks? Over 10 people were murdered. Last I checked, no mutants were harmed,” he challenged.

Jihyo set her jaw and stared the man down. “They invaded the school—they broke in with guns and—-“

Tzuyu tightened her grip on Jihyo’s arm. “Jihyo,” she whispered in warning. “Stop. It isn’t worth it.” 

“How dare you speak to me like that?” the man snapped. “Kids these days have no sense of respect.” He raised his hand, as if he were about to strike Jihyo, and Tzuyu pulled the girl back instinctively, out of his reach. 

Tzuyu stood up quickly and pulled Jihyo up with her. “Come on, let’s go,” she whispered. 

“Is there a problem here?” a middle aged woman approached Jihyo and Tzuyu, looking back and forth between them and the loud-mouth drunk. She was the manager, presumably. 

“My coworker has had a bit too much to drink, I apologize,” the younger man said, bowing his head slightly. 

“I’m just speaking the truth,” the older man declared. “You’re all fools if you can’t see that.” 

“Disruption in this restaurant won’t be tolerated,” the woman replied. 

“It’s alright, we were just leaving,” Jihyo said. She took Tzuyu’s hand in her own and began pulling Tzuyu toward the door. 

“Filthy mutants,” the guy spat out as they left. 

It took every ounce of self control Tzuyu had to not turn around and clock the guy. But she was reminded that she was just a normal girl. Without her super strength, she could get seriously hurt.

“Let’s try another restaurant...how about some kimchi stew?” Jihyo suggested. 

Tzuyu was seething, but she remained silent next to Jihyo and let herself be dragged by her, away from the the jerk’s disgusted stare. 

 

 

 

Sana and Dahyun were sitting side by side in the library. Dahyun was hard at work on her laptop, staring at her screen with her eyebrows drawn together. Meanwhile, Sana was supposed to be working on an essay but she kept getting distracted. It wasn’t her fault that Dahyun was just so….well...beautiful. Every minute or so, Sana couldn’t help but tear her gaze away from her textbook to look up at Dahyun. She traced her side profile with her eyes, taking in every detail, while biting her tongue without even noticing. 

“Your staring is distracting,” Dahyun stated without even taking her eyes off of her computer screen. 

“How can you even see me?” Sana asked—pouting and shrugging her shoulders up and down. “Aren’t you focused on…” Sana’s voice trailed off as she leaned against Dahyun’s side and peeked at the younger girl’s computer screen. “Human genetics?” 

Dahyun finally tore her eyes away from the screen and looked at Sana seriously. “This isn’t school work. This is for Tzuyu.”

“You’re trying to find a way to get her powers back?” Sana asked. She stared at Dahyun intently.

“Yeah, but so far nothing I’m finding is useful.” Dahyun sighed and fell back against her chair. 

Sana put her hands on Dahyun’s cheeks and turned the girl’s head toward her. “That’s so thoughtful of you.” She looked at Dahyun as if she was the only thing that mattered, and it made Dahyun’s heart do somersaults. “But this is complicated stuff. Finding answers, if there even are any, won’t be easy.”

Dahyun sighed again and stared back at Sana’s serious and slightly worried expression. Finally, Sana dropped her hands and set them back in her lap. “I just don’t understand how they could isolate the gene that made Tzuyu different and alter it. That shouldn’t be possible...you can’t just rewrite pre-existing genes…”

“You’d be surprised what people are capable of these days,” Sana replied. “No doubt they had very advanced technology and very bright minds working on some way to do it.” 

“I just want to help,” Dahyun said defeatedly. “Every time I see Tzuyu she looks so sad. I want to make her smile again.”

Sana wrapped her arms around Dahyun and rested her chin on Dahyun’s shoulder. Slightly embarrassed and startled by their closeness, Dahyun made a strange face. “She’ll be happy again, it’ll just take time.” Their faces were only inches apart, so Dahyun turned to face her computer screen again and Sana whined a little. 

“Dahyun?” she asked. At the sound of her name asked as a question, from Sana's lips, Dahyun was brought back to the time when Sana had been saying the same thing with a knife protruding from her chest. Dahyun winced at the image and quickly willed it to go away.

“Hm?” Dahyun didn’t dare turn back to look at Sana. 

“You like me, right?” 

Dahyun’s body froze up. She inhaled slowly. “Nah. You’re crazy.”

Sana whined cutely again and this time shook Dahyun in her arms. 

“Yes, of course I like you, silly,” Dahyun assured.

“I see how you look at me sometimes when you think no one is watching. But I can see you, out of the corner of my eye. And it always makes me smile to myself.” Sana’s voice was a whisper. So close to Dahyun’s ear, it sent chills down the brunette’s spine. “I like that you’re watching because I like you, too.”

There was a brief moment of silence and Dahyun was still enough to feel the pulsing of her heart. For awhile now, she’d been crushing on Sana—admiring her bright and cute personality, and above everything else, the way she saw the world. Despite how Sana appeared to be an airhead sometimes, with her tripping over her own feet and pointing out the obvious, there was an actual earnest intelligence behind her pleasant smile. Dahyun noticed in the way she sometimes carefully crafted her words, or noticed small details that would go over the other girls’ heads. 

Now, this girl whom Chaeyoung and Tzuyu had been teasing her about just a few months ago, was hugging her and practically confessing. I mean, that’s what she was doing, wasn’t it? Was Dahyun reading into things too much? Was Sana just being flirty by nature without even realizing it?

“Sana,” Dahyun sighed. “Do you...really mean that?”

Sana simply nodded and kept up her intense stare. “I’m serious.” 

“As more than a friend?”

Sana nodded again. At Dahyun’s shy and slightly startled expression, she began to lean her head in slowly toward Dahyun’s lips with her eyes fluttering shut.

Dahyun started to lean in, when suddenly she gasped and leaned forward in her chair, throwing Sana off balance. “That’s it!” she cried, as Sana yelled at the same time.

“Say what you said again about technology!” Dahyun cried out. Her face was suddenly determined and happy.

“T-technology? I don’t even remember what I was saying…”

“You said the HCA has advanced technology and the brightest minds!” Dahyun bounced slightly in her seat and she looked at Sana expectantly, as if she should be understanding what any of this outburst meant. 

“I know how we might be able to get Tzuyu’s powers back!” Dahyun announced. “But it’s going to involve danger...and sort of...kind of...kidnapping a scientist.”


	13. Always In Reverse

“I guess leaving the kimchi house was a blessing, because this stew is amazing!” Jihyo, ever the positive ray of sunshine she always was, beamed at Tzuyu from across the table. 

Tzuyu agreed—the soup was really amazing—but she couldn’t get rid of the pit in her stomach, which formed due to their encounter with that terrible man earlier. How could he hate people so much without even knowing them? It was sickening, really. 

Jihyo seemed to notice Tzuyu’s wandering mind, because she scooted forward slightly and lowered her head so that it was more in Tzuyu’s line of vision. “Hey, don’t worry about what happened, okay? It’s not worth fighting ignorant people. He’s just scared, that’s all. And when people are scared they become stupid.”

Tzuyu simply nodded. She raised her hand and took a sip of the soup’s broth. It felt warm and satisfying sliding down her throat. 

“Luckily I think he’s one of the minority of people that believe that the Mutant Registration Act should be passed. It’s all so extreme, isn’t it? Electing to give away people’s rights without their consent...choosing security over freedom…” Jihyo’s voice trailed off and she stared down at her bowl of soup as if all the answers she was looking for were hidden under a floating piece of kimchi.

“I can’t believe he was talking to you like that. He almost hit you…” Tzuyu’s voice faltered a bit. “There was nothing I could do about it...I couldn’t even protect you.” There was so much bitterness laced in Tzuyu’s voice that Jihyo felt her stomach drop. She could feel Tzuyu’s yearning for her powers back. It was so powerful and desperate that it came off of her in waves.

“If you would’ve beat that guy up it would’ve just created a bigger scene anyway. You would’ve exposed us both...who knows what could’ve happened. Seriously, don’t worry about it! Drunk guys are jerks, that’s nothing new! Now finish your stew so we have some time to window shop before the movie, okay?”

Tzuyu nodded and did as she was told. Jihyo watched her with a bit of fondness and worry. “It’ll just take some getting used to, this whole being normal thing,” Tzuyu finally said. 

“It’ll take awhile but you will get used to it. And who knows, maybe JYP’s contacts will know how to restore your powers!” Jihyo smiled at Tzuyu but the younger girl held a frown. 

“I’m not gonna get my hopes up,” Tzuyu sighed, and then picked up her chopsticks and plucked a piece of kimchi into her mouth. 

Jihyo’s smile faltered slightly. She wished she could promise Tzuyu that things would be okay, but she couldn’t. There was a chance that Tzuyu had lost her powers for good. “You done? Let’s get the check and head to a store. I saw a cute boutique with some winter coats for you!” 

Tzuyu reached into her bag to pull out some money but Jihyo tisked. “It’s on me,” Jihyo insisted. “This whole day is, actually.”

“Jihyo—“ Tzuyu began.

Jihyo held up a hand. “Not another word. It’s my pleasure. Plus, JYP might have given me some money to spend…”

Tzuyu’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really?” JYP might have inherited a small fortune but he believed in hard work and really gave out money to students for unimportant reasons—leisure-related activities especially. 

Jihyo nodded excitedly. She could barely contain her smile as she thanked the waiter and set money down for a tip. Jihyo reached for Tzuyu’s hand and pulled her out of the restaurant and back into the mall. For being significantly shorter than Tzuyu, Jihyo moved quickly. Tzuyu had to walk fast to keep up. 

 

 

“Let me get this straight…” Sana began. “You want us to go to the building where Tzuyu was held...find one of the scientists that experimented on her...jump him when he’s leaving and kidnap him...bring him somewhere safe and secure...and then interrogate him using either Mina or Jihyo’s powers to find out how the HCA managed to take away Tzuyu’s powers and how they might be able to get them back?”

Dahyun smiled proudly, then nodded. “Exactly!”

Sana was silent for a moment, staring at Dahyun with narrowed eyes. “Brilliant!” She leaned into Dahyun’s shoulder and began knocking on the girl’s head lightly. “You’re so smart!” 

“We just have to get everyone else on board...and also this is highly illegal so we need to keep it on the down-low.”

Sana nodded excitedly. “We’re gonna get Tzuyu’s powers back and everything will be right in the world again!” Sana pulled out her phone and sent out a group text to her “squad” group message. Mina was the only one who didn’t have a cell phone, so they’d have to stop by and let her know. Everyone had to meet tonight to talk over the plan. 

 

Mina woke up from her nap feeling slightly drowsy but oddly refreshed. She stretched, but then quickly stopped, remembering everything that’d happened earlier in the day. She must’ve fallen asleep while Nayeon had been laying down next to her, but now the older girl was gone. Mina ran a hand through her hair and nearly jumped with joy at the sight of her usual, black hair. She ran over to her small desk mirror and let out a release of breath at the sight of her face. She was finally back to normal! 

It was good timing too, because there was a knock on the door, followed by Sana’s trilling voice calling Mina’s name. Mina opened the door to find both Sana and Dahyun staring back at her. “Everyone’s meeting tonight after dinner to discuss...some plans,” Sana explained. “At 7 we’re meeting in my room!”

“Plans?” Mina asked, tilting her head to the side slightly. She mindlessly began flattening out her skirt, which had gotten wrinkled during her nap. 

“I think I know a way to get Tzuyu’s powers back!” Dahyun replied in a loud whisper. She looked around to make sure no one else was in the hallway and then smiled proudly, causing her eyes to squint up into half moons.

“Really?” Mina asked incredulously. She was going to ask for more information but at that moment Akari happened to stumble by. The three girls quieted down at the sight of her. There was a bit of a tension in the air. 

“Akari!” Mina called out. If there was a meeting at 7 then she’d have to reschedule her training lesson with the brunette. 

Akari didn’t even turn in Mina’s direction though, she kept walking. Mina looked to Sana and Dahyun apologetically. “Excuse me,” she replied, pushing past them. “I’ll be there tonight!” she confirmed to both of them as she began to chase after Akari. 

“Akari!” Mina called again, walking quickly behind the older girl. Why was she being ignored? “I have to push back our session tonight! Can we do 8PM instead?”

Akari came to a halt and Mina nearly ran into the girl’s back. Akari straightened her shoulders and turned around to face Mina. There was a bit of a wild look to the girl’s eyes, and it was so startling that Mina took a step backward. “Akari?” Mina whispered. The girl’s eyes bore into her with something Mina detected as hate and sadness. “What’s wrong?”

Mina stepped forward and reached her hand out to grab Akari’s, but Akari flinched at the movement and turned her body away. “I thought you weren’t talking to me anymore,” she murmured. “Why would you want to talk to a m u r d e r e r, anyway?”

The way Akari said the word “murderer” sent chills down Mina’s spine. “What are you—” Mina began to ask, but Akari quickly turned away and began walking determinedly away from the shorter girl. 

Mina simply watched her go, looking after her with an expression of worry and confusion. 

Sana and Dahyun, who had stood in the hallway awkwardly watching the encounter, quickly ran up to Mina. Sana patted Mina’s back to comfort her. “What happened?” Dahyun asked. 

Mina simply shrugged and hung her head. Her heart felt heavy and with every inhale of breath her lungs stung. “I’m not sure,” she answered. 

 

 

Later that day, in Sana and Momo’s room, Chaeyoung was beyond relieved to see Mina walk in. Unable to contain her happiness, Chaeyoung beamed at Mina as the girl sat down on the floor next to Chaeyoung. 

“You’re back to normal!” Chaeyoung whispered happily. Mina simply nodded. 

“How are you feeling?” Jihyo replied from her spot on Momo’s bed. “We heard you were sick.” Jihyo gave Mina a knowing look though and the younger girl could instantly feel a sense of embarrassment creeping over her. 

“I just...wasn’t feeling like myself,” Mina murmured. “But I’m fine now.”

“We’re glad you’re feeling better!” Momo, with her arm around Nayeon, said cutely. 

Nayeon remained silent but had a smug look on her face. Mina gave her a warning look that said: “Don’t say a word.” Nayeon simply winked. 

“So what’s this big plan of yours?” Jeongyeon asked Dahyun. 

“Disclaimer: it may involve illegal activities including kidnapping, and also a stakeout.”

“It’s never a good sign when you start off with a disclaimer,” Nayeon mused, but she was smiling slightly. 

“Illegal activities, as in plural illegal acts? Count me in,” Chaeyoung said, and that earned a laugh from everyone. 

Dahyun began to explain her plan of kidnapping an HCA scientist and interrogating them. “I don’t think this will require everyone, but we’ll need Jihyo to read their mind, Mina to erase the memories of being kidnapped or force them to tell the truth, and Tzuyu to tell us which scientist will be the most helpful.”

Everyone was silent for a moment, taking it in.

“I’d say it’s dangerous but we already broke in there a week ago...this actually sounds safer than that,” Jeongyeon was the first to break the silence. 

“I could get him or her to talk if necessary,” Mina confirmed. “And I could replace the scientist’s memories with false memories...they would think they just went out for a drink after work or something.” 

“And I could try to read their mind...even if they tried to hide it they can’t suppress their memories from me,” Jihyo added. “But Tzuyu...this is for you, so what do you think?”

Everyone turned to Tzuyu, who had remained silent this entire time. She was looking at the floor like it was the most interesting thing in the world. “I don’t want any more people to risk their safety for me.”

“Oh hush.” Jihyo took one of Tzuyu’s hands and squeezed it. “You know we’d throw ourselves into danger for you without hesitation.” 

“Since we wouldn’t actually be entering the building, it really shouldn’t be dangerous at all.” Dahyun leaned forward on Sana’s bed and looked at Tzuyu across the room.

Tzuyu remained silent, thinking.

“We all volunteer. All you need to do is tell us which scientist we should kidnap. Whatever one you saw while you were in there…” Jihyo’s voice trailed off. 

“I saw two people...I could point them out to you,” Tzuyu sighed.

Dahyun clapped loudly and Sana cheered. 

“I’ll go with you guys, just in case anything goes wrong,” Nayeon offered. 

“I don’t know what I could do to help...but I just wanna be a part of a stakeout!” Sana cried. 

“Okay, so Tzuyu, Jihyo, Mina, Nayeon and Sana…and me of course, since it was my idea,” Dahyun listed out. “We just need to borrow a van from the school and take it out there...that’s where we can bring the scientist to to do the data extraction.”

“Data extraction?” Nayeon asked, raising an eyebrow. 

“I just thought that sounded cool...but you know what I mean...we’re extracting data from someone’s mind!” Dahyun grinned and began humming the 007 theme song. Nayeon simply shook her head. 

It was decided that on Friday evening, in two days, the girls would begin their stakeout of the building. 

The girls began filling out of Sana and Momo’s room, although Dahyun remained behind to talk to Sana some more. Nayeon gave Momo a kiss on the check and headed out behind Jeongyeon. When Jeongyeon began to go the opposite way of the room they shared, Nayeon called out to her roommate curiously. 

“Just hanging out with someone,” Jeongyeon stated innocently. 

Nayeon raised an eyebrow at her friend. “Are you gonna tell me who?”

“Nope.” Jeongyeon winked at her friend. “I need to maintain my air of mystery.”

Nayeon rolled her eyes at Jeongyeon, who simply laughed, and continued to walk down the hallway in the direction of the boys’ wing. 

Chaeyoung practically skipped out in the hallway after Mina. Though Chaeyoung was in a good mood, she could tell that her friend was slightly down. Something was clearly troubling her. Chaeyoung took Mina’s arm and began guiding her back toward the classrooms. This part of the school was normally empty at night so Chaeyoung often found herself wandering here to clear her head often, blasting music through her headphones.

“What’s wrong?” she asked Mina. 

Mina’s eyes darted over to Chaeyoung. “It’s Akari...she was acting strange today.” 

Chaeyoung pressed her lips together at the sound of Akari’s name. “Oh, really? How so?”

“She ignored me after I tried to reschedule my lesson with her tonight. Then she asked me why I wanted to hang out with her…”

That was a valid question, or at least Chaeyoung thought so, but she kept that to herself. “I’m sure everything’s okay…” Chaeyoung assured. “It’s Akari...she’s unpredictable.”

Mina didn’t say anything, but nodded. “I think I’m going to go back to my room and do some practice myself.” She unlinked her arm from Chaeyoung’s and stopped walking. “See you tomorrow?”

Chaeyoung was a bit disappointed that she wouldn’t have more time with Mina tonight, but she nodded. “See ya.” She watched as Mina half-heartedly waved with a fake smile on her face, spun around, and left Chaeyoung standing alone in the hallway. 

All by herself, Chaeyoung began scruffing her sneakers along the tile floor of the hallway. She reached into her pockets and pulled out the headphones she always had on her and put them on. Humming to herself, she made her way further down the hallway until she came across a streak of light bleeding from the window of the door to a lone classroom. Was someone inside, this late at night? 

Curious, Chaeyoung peeked her head in the window and scanned the room. She nearly jumped at the sight of Akari sitting in the back by herself. Akari happened to lift her head and see Chaeyoung peering in at her at that exact moment. Chaeyoung jumped back from the window, embarrassed, and gathered some courage before she opened the door and strode into the room. 

“Chaeyoung.” It was said as a simple greeting—a statement really. Akari stared directly at the shorter girl. “Can’t you see I want to be left alone?”

“You love her, don’t you?” The question came out bluntly and randomly, but Chaeyoung couldn’t help herself. It had been eating away at her—the not knowing.

Akari ignored the question, fumbling with the hem of her skirt.

“Even when she erased your memories, right from the start, you loved her. I saw the way you looked at her…”

“What’s your point exactly?” Akari replied, not making eye contact with Chaeyoung. 

“My point is, I love her too.”

Akari snorted. “Obviously.”

Chaeyoung curled her fists and tried to hold back her temper. “You may have saved her life but she doesn’t owe you anything. Her life was only in danger because of you.”

Akari was silent for a moment before she looked at Chaeyoung again. “You’re right.” She inspected her nails and pretended to look bored again.

“She still cares about you somehow. Because she…” Chaeyoung’s voice trailed off, too annoyed to finish the rest of her thought.

Akari stood up lazily and glared at Chaeyoung. “Because she’s a good person. And she thought she could fix me. I was a project of hers.”

They stood staring at each other, arms crossed. If they fought, Chaeyoung would never win, and they both knew it. Akari was just too powerful. But they weren’t facing each other in a battle of power, but of romance. Which one of them could really win Mina over? Chaeyoung had thought she’d had the upper hand until she noticed Mina spending so much time with Akari again. It was to master her new powers, Mina said, but Chaeyoung couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to it than that. 

Akari thought of how easy it would be to end Chaeyoung here and now. A little focus and she could make her brain pop like something metal in a microwave. Then Mina wouldn’t have a choice. There’d just be her, as it should be. It was always meant to be Akari and Mina. Their paths crossed in ways that little Chaeyoung couldn’t even wrap her head around, and yet here she was—all 5’3” of her—staring defiantly at Akari.

Akari actually respected that. The girl had guts. She knew Chaeyoung actually was a pretty nice kid too, so she let her temper cool as she dug her nails into her palms. Plus, if she ever hurt Chaeyoung she knew her chances with Mina would really be toast. But did that even matter now anyway, when Mina had rejected her before she’d even confessed?

“Was a project?” Chaeyoung asked.

“Mina doesn’t want me around anymore,” Akari stated plainly, pretending each word didn’t cut into her like a knife. “She wants you, Chaeyoung.”

“What are you talking about?” Chaeyoung’s eyes widened. 

“She told me. Plain and simple. I’ll be gone by daybreak tomorrow. Out of everyone’s hair.” 

“Akari—-“ Chaeyoung sat down at the desk next to the girl and looked at her with concern. “Mina would be devastated if you left.”

“Then why would she tell me to find someone else to pine after? Why would she call me a murderer?” Akari didn’t know why she was opening up to Chaeyoung, but she felt a strange sort of solidarity with the other girl. They both cared about the same person, at least. 

Chaeyoung was at a loss. She tried to imagine Mina saying those things, but it felt wrong and twisted. “She wouldn’t say that...that doesn’t sound like something she would say.”

“I can’t blame her for saying those things. Some good sense finally came to her to keep me at arm’s length. I’m no good. That’s why I’m leaving.”

A few days ago, Chaeyoung might have been thrilled to hear Akari say that, but now she actually found herself feeling sad and guilty. After all, Akari had risked her neck saving Tzuyu. “You should talk to Mina again,” Chaeyoung replied. “At least say goodbye before you go.” 

“I can’t say goodbye,” Akari said. “Because if she looks into my eyes and tells me to stay I know I will.”

Akari stood up from the desk and began to head toward the door. “Akari, please!” Chaeyoung called after her. Chaeyoung raised her hand and the classroom door shut violently on it’s own in Akari’s face. Taken a bit off guard, Akari simply laughed. “Why would you want me to stay? You have everything you want now.”

“Just today, Mina was telling me how sad she was that you missed your lesson with her. She didn’t understand why you didn’t come.”

That caught Akari’s attention. She turned around from the door to face Chaeyoung again. “Why would she be sad if she told me to stay away?”

“That’s what I’m saying,” Chaeyoung replied. “It doesn't make sense.”

Akari’s face scrunched up as she thought hard. “You’re saying she just said this to you today? Recently?”

Chaeyoung nodded.

“And she told me to stay away earlier…”

“When did Mina tell you this?”

Akari’s mouth set into a hard line as a sudden realization hit her. “It wasn’t Mina who told me at all.” Chaeyoung opened her mouth to question what Akari just said but the taller girl held up a hand. “Thanks for stopping me from making a big mistake.” On that note, Akari turned around and threw the door open, then began running in the direction of Mina’s dorm. 

Akari stopped running once the pure rage caught up with her. Nayeon. The girl had been out to get Akari from the start. But this was a new low, even for her. Akari imagined storming into Nayeon’s room and killing her on the spot. She wouldn’t do it quickly though...she’d drain Nayeon’s powers and watch as she turned into a shell of herself. That’d teach her…

No! Wait. That was wrong! Akari clenched her jaw and began to pull at her hair. She could understand why Nayeon wanted her gone so badly. She’d hurt Sana, empowered the HCA, and almost got Mina killed, too. If she were in Nayeon’s position and someone had hurt Mina, wouldn’t she do the same thing? Anything to protect who she loved? 

Akari took a shaky breath and dropped her hands. Mina. That was all that mattered now. 

Akari ran a few feet before teleporting in front of Mina’s door. She knocked on it loudly and shifted her weight from foot to foot. “Mina?” Akari called. “Please tell me you’re here.”

There was the sound of shuffling and then the door opened slowly, revealing Mina looking like herself again. She seemed somewhat surprised to see Akari. “Oh, it’s you,” she said.

“I’m sorry about avoiding you and missing our lesson,” Akari said. “Earlier today I thought you told me to stay away from you.”

At that, Mina’s brow furrowed slightly. “What…?”

“Was Nayeon here this afternoon? In your room?” 

Mina suddenly looked embarrassed, recalling her encounter with Nayeon, and nodded. “Yeah, she kind of burst in, unannounced. Why?”

“I was coming to talk to you when I saw her coming out of your room, but I thought it was you. I thought you were just able to at least adjust her hair to the right color.” 

Mina tilted her head sightly.

“She said something to me that made me think I should leave,” Akari confessed. The details weren’t important—Mina didn’t need to know.

“Wait, Nayeon...pretended to be me?” Mina finally asked, trying to make sense of everything.

“She didn’t correct me when I thought she was you, anyway,” Akari confirmed. “She went along with it. That’s why I was a jerk when you tried to talk to me earlier, I’m sorry.”

Mina looked very concerned. She opened her mouth to say something but must’ve decided against it because she closed it again. She hummed and looked down at the ground. “I can’t believe she’d do something like that.”

“I’m not surprised,” Akari muttered. “I was stupid to believe she was you. You would never say things like that.”

Mina’s eyes widened at the thought of what Nayeon might have said. It was horrifying, actually. “I’m so sorry for whatever she said,” Mina replied, suddenly looking sad and distraught. It must have been terrible if it was enough to make Akari want to leave. “I...I want you around. I don’t want you to go.”

Akari sighed in relief to hear those words come from Mina’s mouth. “Okay, I’m not going anywhere then. Besides, we still have to work on your training. When did you shift back to normal, by the way?”

Mina shrugged. “I fell asleep while Nayeon was in the room and when I woke up I looked like me again. It must’ve been while I was sleeping.”

Akari nodded. “Makes sense. Sometimes sleep can help you relax. We’ll have to keep that in mind if it happens again. Even if it might not work every time.”

Mina was swaying slightly, clearly a little anxious. She looked in the direction of Nayeon’s room. “I think...I need to go talk to Nayeon,” she stated. 

“Do you want me to give her a good beat down for you?” Akari asked, smiling slyly. Honestly though, the thought of Mina telling Nayeon off was somehow more satisfying than Akari confronting Nayeon herself. 

Mina didn’t return the smile. Instead, she looked a bit troubled. “No,” she replied, stepping out into the hallway and closing her door. “See you tomorrow at the normal time?” Mina asked. 

“Yup.” Akari watched as Mina slowly made her way to Nayeon’s room, suddenly looking determined. It was weird to see Mina...angry. 

Mina knocked rather violently on the door. Jihyo was the first to open it, and her smile turned into a frown immediately when she saw Mina’s serious expression. “Is Nayeon there? I really need to talk to her.”

Jihyo turned around and called out Nayeon’s name, causing the girl to remove her headphones and jump off her bed. Jihyo stepped away from the door and let Nayeon take her place. Nayeon smiled at the sight of Mina but instantly got a bad feeling when Mina didn’t smile back.

“Can we talk?” Mina asked. “Somewhere privately?” Nayeon simply nodded and stepped out into the hallway. The girls began a walk in the direction of the courtyard, and Mina waited until she was sure no one was around to unleash her fury.

“What did you say to Akari?” Mina asked. Her voice was level but dangerous, and sounded louder than usual as it bounced throughout the empty hallway. Nayeon tried to look innocent but Mina wasn’t having it. “I know you pretended to be me.”

Nayeon suddenly looked very guilty. Her shoulders sagged slightly. “I’m sorry. I was trying to do you a favor—everyone a favor, actually.”

Mina looked away—face a mask. “How...dare you,” she said finally. She turned back to Nayeon and her eyes were shining with fire. “How dare you pretend to be me and try to send Akari away!”

Nayeon held up her hands, trying to calm Mina down. “Mina, I’m sorry. Akari is bad news. It’s better for all of us if she’s not here anymore and you know it!”

Mina shook her head. “You’re wrong. Akari’s changed. There’s good in her.”

Nayeon rolled her eyes. “That doesn’t excuse all she’s done and all she can still do. She’s dangerous! She could kill anyone in an instant.”

“So could I!” Mina practically roared, causing Nayeon to step back in surprise. For a second, Nayeon was scared of Mina. Before Nayeon’s eyes, the younger girl began to shift. Her features began to look more wolfish and dangerous until Nayeon was staring at perfect copy of Akari. 

“You...wouldn’t hurt anyone…” 

Mina continued to stare Nayeon down with a frightening look. “Not on purpose, anyway.” No one else knew Mina’s secret...the one she kept with her all this time. She had killed someone close to her. It was an accident, but it was murder all the same. Would anyone be able to look at her the same way if they knew? Would they have welcomed her into the school with open arms? 

“Mina, I’m sorry,” Nayeon’s voice was rising and growing more unsteady. Being alone with Mina looking like Akari made Nayeon uncomfortable. It was like for a second she had forgotten that this was Mina in front of her. Mina, with her adorable giggle and gummy smile. Mina, who never raised her voice and couldn’t even stand to kill a bug... 

Nayeon wanted to run back to her room and hide behind Jihyo. “I know you like Chaeyoung…” Nayeon replied. At Mina’s silence, Nayeon stepped forward again. “You don’t possibly have feelings for Akari too, do you?” Nayeon managed to meet the girl’s eyes, but they were like bottomless pits filled with fire, and so her gaze dropped. It was chilling how Mina’s new power worked—how she could imitate someone’s outer appearance flawlessly. 

Mina turned away and crossed her arms. Did she have feelings for Akari? She swallowed hard.

“You can’t let that cloud your judgement...you need to think about everyone’s safety.”

“We’re safe here with Akari. Actually, we’re probably safer with her here in case the HCA comes back.” It was then that Mina heard the foreign voice coming from her lips. She didn’t have to look in a mirror to know she was wearing Akari’s face. Normally she would’ve been mortified, but she was so ticked off that she didn’t feel the need to hide her face.

Nayeon huffed out a frustrated breath. “I’m sorry, really. I shouldn’t have done that. I just felt like I finally had the opportunity to set things right. To have some power over what’s happened recently. Because you know she’ll only listen to you, right?”

Mina looked away again, staring out the window nearby like she could actually see beyond the darkness of the night.

“She loves you,” Nayeon stated. The words were said bittersweetly, and they hovered in the air around the two girls for what seemed like minutes. 

Akari had told Mina she loved her once. Mina wasn’t sure if Akari meant it then, but she knew it was true now. Mina tried to ignore it and put if off for as long as she could, but how much longer could she keep it up? 

“I know,” Mina said. And with that, she spun around and walked back inside the building, leaving Nayeon alone at the end of the hallway.


	14. The Scientist

Walking back to her room, Mina felt mentally and emotionally drained. She was practically dragging her feet down the hallway. She needed to clear her head because her thoughts were racing—mostly she blamed herself for the unknown feelings she had for Akari. Did they really compare with the butterflies she got whenever she was with Chaeyoung?

“Hey!” a voice called, and Mina looked up from the floor to see Chaeyoung running at her—speak of the devil. The short girl stopped in front of Mina and began panting slightly. Where did she come running from, and why was she running in the first place? “Did you talk to her?” Chaeyoung asked when she was finally able to muster a breath.

“Talk to who?” Mina asked, but then she remembered that she looked like Akari at the moment. “Oh, Chaeng—”

“She doesn’t want you to leave, I know it,” Chaeyoung replied, cutting Mina off.

“It’s me...Mina,” Mina said shyly, instantly feeling her face become a shade of red. It was weird seeing Chaeyoung from Akari’s height—she looked even tinier and cuter.

Chaeyoung wrinkled her brow in confusion, and then her eyes widened in embarrassment. The uniform the girl in front of Chaeyoung was wearing did look slightly too short for her, so it made sense. 

“Really?” Chaeyoung asked. When the girl nodded, Chaeyoung sighed. 

Mina closed her eyes and tried to find her center, but her mind felt jumbled and unsteady. She thought about herself, tracing out the details of her own face in her mind, and opened her eyes slowly. “Back to normal?” she asked, and was relieved to hear her own voice ringing in her ears. 

“Mostly.” Chaeyoung stood up on her tiptoes and lightly tucked a strand of hair out of Mina’s face and behind her ear. It was brown and longer than her normal hair—still Akari’s. “Seems like you always have trouble with the hair.” 

“It seems that way.” Mina pressed her lips together. Normally she’d smile, but her head was all over the place at the moment. 

“What’s wrong?” Chaeyoung noticed Mina’s gloomy demeanor...and since she’d accidentally shifted into Akari, she knew something was up. Akari must’ve talked to her. “Let’s go back to your room.” It had been a long day, but Mina was happy to have Chaeyoung’s company for a little bit longer. If she tried to fall asleep now she wouldn’t be able to anyway, due to the racing thoughts in her head. 

Mina simply nodded and let Chaeyoung guide her back further into the school. Mina fished out her room key and opened her door. She kicked off her shoes and collapsed on the bed. Chaeyoung followed closely behind. “So you talked to Akari?” 

Mina nodded. “The reason she skipped out on our training session is because she thought I told her I didn’t want her around.”

Chaeyoung leaned forward, watching Mina’s face intently.

“But it was Nayeon who told her that. She pretended to be me…”

“That’s just messed up,” Chaeyoung replied after taking in the information. Why would Nayeon do something that stupid? 

“I know,” Mina replied. “I let her know that.”

Chaeyoung’s eyes widened slightly. She was surprised Mina would actually confront Nayeon about it. “Is Nayeon going to be okay...you don’t think Akari would do anything to her, do you?”

Mina thought for a moment but shook her head. “No, actually. Akari just seems relieved to know what she thought I said isn’t true.” It made Mina quite happy to know that Akari had more control over her temper now, but Mina knew better than to trust Akari completely. 

“Mina, you know I care about you, right?” Chaeyoung blurted out. She was growing a bit tired of talking about Akari. Even though Chaeyoung was happy that there was no more tension between the older girl and Mina, Chaeyoung was ready to move on from the subject. 

Mina looked at Chaeyoung from the corner of her eyes. “You do?”

Chaeyoung nodded firmly. “Yes, of course I do.” Chaeyoung reached over and curled her fingers around Mina’s. They were sitting crossed legged on her bed, both facing each other. 

Chaeyoung lightly let her fingers brush against Mina’s skin and Mina began to do the same, tracing circles against Chaeyoung’s pointer finger with her thumb. “I care about you too,” Mina admitted. 

“Really?” Chaeyoung looked up shyly from their intertwined fingers to Mina’s face. “I wasn’t sure…with Akari around and all.”

Mina’s chest instantly tightened up. She flashbacked to the conversation she just had with Nayeon. “You don’t possibly have feelings for Akari too, do you?” Nayeon had asked. 

“I’m not sure what to think about Akari,” Mina sighed. She searched Chaeyoung’s face intently, as if she could find the answer hidden there. “But...I know what I think about you. I’ve known it ever since we first met.”

“Do you remember when I kissed you?” Chaeyoung asked quietly. It had only been a few days since they’d even met. Mina had accidentally hypnotized Chaeyoung to kiss her, and both of the girls had been mortified. 

Mina lowered her head in shame, letting some of Akari’s hair fall in front of her face. Yes, she remembered her moment of weakness very well. She nodded.

“Do you think we could do that again? Without any hypnosis this time?” Chaeyoung brushed the hair out of Mina’s face and placed it gently behind the girl’s shoulder. 

Mina looked up slowly, holding her breath. The tension in the room was off the charts. The two girls stared at each other, scared and unsure. But someone had to make a move. 

“You just gotta go for it. Don’t think about it.” That’s what Nayeon said. That’s what Mina was going to have to do.

And so Mina unlocked her hand from Chaeyoung’s, placed both hands on Chaeyoung’s face, and leaned forward. She closed her eyes. Chaeyoung did the same. Their lips met. 

At first, they just remained pressed against each other, but then Chaeyoung drew back and took a breath. Mina was too embarrassed to look Chaeyoung in the eye, so instead she remained focused on the girl’s lips. Mina scooched closer to Chaeyoung and leaned in again, this time with a sense of urgency and desire. Both of their lips parted slightly, and the two girls fit together perfectly. 

Chaeyoung had almost no experience in this department, so Mina began to take the lead, silently thanking her old boyfriend for the lessons she learned from the kisses they shared back when she was young and naive and didn’t have a worry in the world. 

Chaeyoung gently wrapped her arms around Mina, placing her hands on the small of the older girl’s back and pushing her closer to Chaeyoung slightly. Mina let her hands travel to the back of Chaeyoung’s neck, playing with the soft tufts of hair there, while her other hand scratched Chaeyoung’s back gently. They continued to kiss, alternating positions like a rhythm. 

All of Chaeyoung’s worries and doubts slipped away. There was just Mina and the bed they were sitting on and the taste of her strawberry chapstick. 

After a few minutes, Mina drew away, laughing quietly.

“What’s so funny?” Chaeyoung asked flusteredly, smiling at Mina’s giggling. “I wasn’t that bad, was I?”

Mina shook her head and stopped laughing, but continued to smile. “No, you were wonderful. I just can’t believe this actually happened.”

“Have you been dreaming about this moment for awhile?” Chaeyoung teased. “Me and my very kissable lips?” 

“Would it be really embarrassing if I said yes?” Mina asked cutely, and Chaeyoung nearly melted. 

“Oh, come here you!” Chaeyoung wrapped Mina into a hug, pushing the older girl back against her bed so that Chaeyoung fell on to top of her. They wrestled until they were laying side by side, giggling. 

“Can I confess something?” Mina asked quietly. Chaeyoung nodded. “Yesterday when I accidentally shifted into Momo, I was jealous about her relationship with Nayeon. I saw the two of them so happy together and I realized I wanted that for myself...with you.”

Chaeyoung had to physically contain herself from making any squeeing noises, but she couldn’t contain the wide smile that burst across her face. “Wow, after our first kiss you’re already talking about a relationship? You move fast,” Chaeyoung teased.

“Well, technically it’s our second and you did kiss me on the cheek earlier…” Mina began, and Chaeyoung quickly patted the girl’s arm and shushed her.

“I’m just kidding. I’ve liked you since I met you too. I’ve just been too much of a wimp to really do anything. And then so much happened, between Sana and Momo getting hurt and you getting shot...it just felt like there was never a good time.”

“Somehow Nayeon and Momo made it work, so I think we’re allowed to be a little selfish with our free time too,” Mina said. “If that’s what you want, that is.”

“Just promise me you’re not gonna get shot again,” Chaeyoung replied, only half-joking.

Mina’s smile faltered a bit but she clung onto it. “I’m not sure what the future will bring, but I’ll try my best.” 

“Okay, that’s enough for me then.” Chaeyoung was beyond relieved to hear that Mina liked her as much as she liked Mina. Akari didn’t matter. She wouldn’t get in the way if this was what Mina herself wanted. 

 

Thursday went by incredibly slow for Tzuyu. She was anticipating their stake out on Friday, where they’d possibly unlock the key to getting her powers back. She didn’t want her friends to put themselves in danger for her, but the plan seemed pretty solid and unstoppable. After all, what could really go wrong with someone who could control other people, on their side? 

Friday morning went by even slower, as the girls attended classes as usual. Dahyun, Sana, Nayeon, Mina, Jihyo and Tzuyu were to meet in the main foyer of the school after their classes were over and they changed back into casual clothes. 

Mina made it a point to ignore Nayeon completely on Thursday and Friday morning up until their meet-up in the afternoon. She ate lunch in the library with Chaeyoung both days, still very much flustered and happy from their shared confessions the day before. Akari, however, was nowhere to be seen. Mina was slightly worried but figured the older girl was just clearing her head and probably wanted some time to be left alone. Mina was slightly dreading the mission and being forced to see Nayeon, but she couldn’t exactly skip out on that when Tzuyu needed her. 

So, when Nayeon came bounding over to the spot in the foyer where the group of friends had begun to gather, Mina turned her attention the floor, ignoring eye contact with Nayeon completely. It’s not that she hated Nayeon, but she couldn’t forgive her for trying to get Akari to leave just yet. 

“Okay, here we go! We just need to sneak past security to get to the vans,” Dahyun replied as the girls walked outside toward the front gate together. They walked in the direction of where the garage containing all the vehicles was located, but stopped before getting too close to where the guards stood and hid behind some perfectly trimmed bushes. “Should be easy, right?”

“If we approach them they’ll definitely get suspicious...we want to do this in a way where they won’t alert JYP or anyone else,” Jihyo replied. “If we just start walking over they might get nervous and press the panic button, because they’ve been told to stay on high alert since we snuck out to rescue Tzuyu last time. JYP had a literal panic button installed, to be used at any sign of an emergency,” Jihyo explained. She knew this because she often worked closely with security because they used her to figure out a stranger’s true intentions in the past. “If either professor on guard duty hits that button then JYP will know immediately.” 

“I need to get closer to use my hypnosis on them,” Mina murmured. “They’re out in the open with no cover around so this will be difficult.” 

“I have an idea,” Sana mused. “Mina, how are your acting skills?”

Everyone turned to look at Mina, who suddenly looked horrified. “My acting? I’m not very good, why?”  
“We just need to convince the guards that we’re supposed to be taking the van and that we got permission,” Sana said simply. “You just need to pretend to be someone they’d let chaperone us out. A professor...any one of them, really. If they see a professor with us they’re not going to jump the gun, then you can make sure they don’t hit the panic button using your hypnosis.”

Everyone, especially Dahyun, looked impressed by Sana’s plan. Mina was impressed, but also hesitant. She wasn’t expecting to be using her shapeshifting abilities today. Was she even ready for this? Besides, she still didn’t like shifting at all…

“But…” she began. “I don’t…”

“Do it for Tzuyu!” Dahyun replied. Beside the shorter girl, Tzuyu suddenly looked shy.

“No, I’d never ask Mina to do something she’s not comfortable with,” the girl assured. 

Mina shook her head and suddenly looked determined. “I’ll do it. But...who…” Her voice trailed off.

“Miss Suzy,” Sana suggested. “You could do that, right?”

“I suppose,” Mina said quietly. She looked up at all the faces, beside Nayeon’s that is, and suddenly felt embarrassed. “But what do I say to them?”

“Just smile at them and then use your hypnosis to convince them that they heard from JYP already...that Miss Suzy got permission to take all of us out. No need for them to contact him at all and confirm it,” Sana said. 

Mina nodded and turned her hands into fists, looking like she was about to get ready to fight. “O-okay.” She paused for a moment and everyone looked at her expectantly. “Uh...can you all...turn around? I can’t really do this with everyone watching…”

“You act like you’re getting changed,” Dahyun said, laughing slightly, but everyone did as they were told. 

Satisfied, Mina closed her eyes and thought about Miss Suzy. The problem was she didn’t talk to her often since she didn’t have any classes taught by the woman. This forced Mina to think of the one intimate moment she shared with Miss Suzy. It was back at the hospital, when the woman had come into her room, placed a hand gently on Mina’s chest, and healed her. Mina remembered suddenly holding her breath with how close Suzy got to her. She averted her eyes, looking anywhere but at Suzy’s face, until she saw the older woman closing her own eyes while she used her powers. 

It was then that Mina took a moment to study the professor’s face, and Mina was in awe at how beautiful the woman was, even though she was only a few years older. Before Mina knew it, she felt a thousand times better and Miss Suzy’s eyes opened as she took her hand off of Mina and stepped back to survey her work. 

Mina opened her eyes, back in the present, and slowly lowered her head so that she could see if her hair had changed. Sure enough, her shoulder-length black hair was now much longer, wavy, and brown. 

“Are you done yet?” Sana asked. 

“I think so,” Mina answered with a voice lighter than her own. With that, everyone turned back around. 

Sana and Dahyun audibly gasped, not yet having seen Mina shift before. Nayeon’s face was blank––a mask of indifference and guilt laced around the edges. Tzuyu looked slightly awestruck. Jihyo simply smiled.

“That’s amazing,” Dahyun whispered. “Cool party trick.”

“It worked then?” Mina asked, turning toward Jihyo. Jihyo nodded. 

Sana stepped forward and reached her hand toward Mina’s face gently. Mina turned her head, looking down at the ground, but that didn’t stop Sana from lightly poking her cheek. “You’re all grown up,” Sana giggled. “Should I start using formalities with you, Miss Mina?” 

“Leave her alone, Sana.” Jihyo wrapped her arm around Sana’s and pulled the older girl away from Mina. “Let’s do this.”

Mina took a breath and began walking toward the two professors on guard duty. Everyone else followed behind. The two professors turned to watch the approaching group with curiosity. “Hello,” Mina greeted politely. “I’m going to be taking the girls out for a bit. We’ll be taking the van.”

“Did you get permission from JYP?” one of the men asked.

“Yes, he told you we’d be going out, don’t you remember?” Mina’s left hand at her side was moving slightly, as if tracing invisible circles with her fingertips in the air. 

The two men suddenly looked blank. “Of course,” one of them murmured. His voice sounded monotone and his eyes looked glossed over. “He told us earlier today. He told us to just let you go and not even alert him when you left.”

Mina smiled slightly. “We’ll be going then,” she said. She began to move forward, past the two men. “Oh, and if anyone asks, just tell them that JYP gave us permission to leave, okay?” The two men remained staring forward and both nodded. The girls made their way past security and into the garage where all the school vehicles were kept. As soon as they were out of sight of the guards, Mina sighed with relief. 

“You did it!” Sana cheered, and engulfed Mina into a hug. Before Jihyo could pull Sana off of Mina, the girl snuck a kiss on Mina’s cheek. 

“What was that for?” Mina said quietly as she gently touched the spot where Sana’s lips had met her cheek.

“Yeah, what was that for?” Dahyun replied a bit loudly, giving Sana a dirty expression. 

Sana giggled as Jihyo dragged her away. “I’ve always wanted to kiss a professor, at least once.”

Everyone collectively rolled their eyes. “Let’s hurry it up.” Nayeon opened the driver’s side of the nearest van and hoped in. “I’m driving.” 

The building was only about a fifteen minute drive away. Once they were relatively close to it, Nayeon parked across the street and killed the engine. The girls unbuckled their seatbelts and peered outside at the entrance of the building. 

“And now we wait,” Dahyun murmured. 

 

Stakeouts were a lot more boring than Sana imagined. After about a half an hour, the girl began whining in Dahyun’s ear. Sana sat down on Dahyun’s lap and wrapped her arms around the girl’s shoulders, clearly so over this mission. 

“Stop distracting me,” Dahyun murmured, trying to resist Sana’s affection. “We need to focus.”

“I’m pretty sure everyone else can handle being on look out for now.” Sana’s lips were getting dangerously close to Dahyun’s face and the younger girl couldn’t help but gulp. It didn’t help that they were in close quarters with the other girls, who could see everything that was going on.

“Get a room you two,” Nayeon muttered, rolling her eyes at Sana’s antics. Sana stuck her tongue out at Nayeon.

“It’s possible neither of the people we’re looking for are even going to come out,” Tzuyu said. “It’s a Friday afternoon...they could’ve left early…”

“Or they could be staying late and won’t be out for a few hours,” Jihyo offered. “Either way, we all volunteered our time for this, we’re staying until we see them. If we don’t, we’ll come back another day, soon.” Jihyo looked at Tzuyu encouragingly. She wasn’t going to let Tzuyu down, not when Dahyun had just given her a little hope that she might have a chance of getting her powers back.

“What exactly do you think they do in there, anyway?” Mina asked, staring at the building intently and sizing it up.

“We didn’t get a great look at it but I saw lots of equipment and offices. It almost looks like a normal science lab, if it weren’t home to terrorists,” Jihyo answered. 

“I only saw one room,” Tzuyu replied. She didn’t really talk about her time with the HCA, probably because it was so traumatic. What Jihyo could piece together was that Tzuyu had basically been tortured. That thought made Jihyo’s skin crawl. 

“Hey, someone’s coming!” Nayeon announced. Everyone turned their heads to peak out the tinted windows. There was a man that exited through the front door. 

Tzuyu squinted in his direction. “I don’t recognize him,” she sighed. 

“But it’s possible he might still know something, right? We could still ask…” Sana suggested. 

“Sana’s right, we could be waiting here forever if—” Dahyun began, but stopped short as Mina stood up, made her way to the back of the van, opened the doors, and jumped out gracefully. “Mina?”

All the girls watched as Mina began to approach the man, who had his hands stuffed in his pockets and was walking down the street towards where his car was most likely parked. The street itself was pretty deserted besides a few parked cars along both sides. He looked up in interest at the sight of her. 

“Are you a scientist here?” Mina asked, motioning to the HCA building. At her side, her hand was jittering slightly as she focused her power. 

“What—?” the man froze and suddenly looked uncomfortable. “Yes.” 

Mina wordlessly turned around and headed back toward the van. The man obediently followed but his movements looked jerky and constricted, as if he were a puppet on a string. Mina hopped back into the van with Jihyo giving her a hand, and the man climbed up as well. He was much too tall to stand up in the van, so he had to bend his knees to fit inside. Once inside, Jihyo closed the doors behind them. 

Mina stared at the man intently. “He’s a scientist here,” Mina explained. “There’s a chance he’ll know the information we need. Are you familiar with Chou Tzuyu, the girl with super strength that you kidnapped from JYP’s school?”

The man looked like he was rooted to the floor, unable to move. “Yes,” he spit out against his will.

“How did you get rid of Tzuyu’s powers?” Mina asked the man, who suddenly looked slightly terrified and kept fiddling with his glasses.

He remained silent, looking from girl to girl. 

“Somatic genome editing,” Jihyo replied while staring at him intently. “He’s terrible at hiding his thoughts.”

Dahyun quickly scribbled it down on a notepad she’d brought with her. “That method is still in early stages...it’s expensive and dangerous….how…?”

“Get out of my head!” the man yelled—face turning red as he glared at Jihyo with hatred. “You filthy b—” but he was then abruptly cut off—face turning blank. 

Mina had her hand extended in his direction. “He’ll be more cooperative now.” 

“With gamma technology,” the man answered in an almost monotone voice. “We have wealthy donors dedicated to the cause. We target the mutated gene and use nuclease editing to insert a new gene.” 

“What does that mean?” Nayeon asked, looking at Dahyun.

“They wrote over Tzuyu’s mutated genes,” Dahyun replied. “Replaced them with normal ones.”

“Is there any way to reverse this?” Tzuyu spoke up, starting to look a little panicked. 

There was a bit of hesitation from the man. He opened his mouth but didn’t speak. 

“Is there any way to reverse this!” Tzuyu repeated again, more loudly. Her eyes were wide and desperate. 

“Maybe. If the same process was repeated,” he answered with a strained voice. He clearly was trying his best to resist Mina’s hypnosis. “However, it could be dangerous and unpredictable…”

“I don’t care,” Tzuyu stated. 

“Each mutant’s mutated gene is different. You’d have to reinsert the same mutation in the exact same place. However, there’s no telling what the effects of this may be on the host…it may be dangerous, even deadly.”

“Can you make him go back in there and get the records of my genes?” Tzuyu asked Mina. “Maybe JYP can rely this information to his contacts and find someone who can perform the same method on me elsewhere?”

Mina turned to look at the man. “You can let him out of the van,” she replied. “He’s going to get what we need and come back out. Then I’ll wipe his memory of this conversation entirely.”

Nayeon and Sana opened the van doors and the man stumbled outside, as if in a trance, in the direction of the building. 

“Tzuyu, it could be dangerous,” Jihyo said, taking the younger girl’s arm. “Are you sure about this?”

Tzuyu’s mouth was set in a straight, determined line. “Yes, I want to be who I was born to be. I want to be able to protect you...all of you.” 

Jihyo looked like she wanted to say more, but she held back since she wasn’t alone with Tzuyu. She’d talk to her later when she had the chance.

After a few minutes of heavy silence, Nayeon spotted the scientist approaching again with a briefcase in hand. Nayeon and Sana opened up the back doors for him and ushered him inside. He seemed very unwilling but ended up handing the briefcase over to Mina. “That’s everything you’ll need,” he muttered. “Now—”

“When you got out of work today you decided you needed a drink. That’s why you stayed out a little later than normal. But you realized you forgot something at work so you came back,” Mina began.

He was staring at her as if he were mesmerized.

“Nothing out of the ordinary happened today. We were never here. You never talked to us. You have no idea who we are.”

He nodded firmly. 

“You can leave now.” 

The man did as he was told. Sana shut the van doors behind him and everyone peered out the window, watching him walk away and then stop, blink a few times in confusion and mutter to himself, look around, and then presumably head in the direction of where he parked.

“We did it!” Dahyun cheered. 

Mina sat down in a seat and sighed. It was clear the hypnosis took a lot out of her. 

“Thank you everyone,” Tzuyu said. 

“Now, let’s head back,” Nayeon replied, climbing into the driver’s seat. “But wait...have we thought about how we’re gonna re-enter the school?”

Everyone was silent. Sana slowly turned to Mina, making eye contact and causing Mina to audibly sigh again. “The same way we got by them in the first place, I suppose,” Mina replied. 

Sana smiled dazzlingly and put her hands on Mina’s shoulders, shaking the girl back and forth while saying “Miss Mina, Miss Mina, Miss Mina,” over and over again. Sana was enjoying herself way too much. Dahyun sent her the stink eye again. 

“Wait a second, JYP is gonna find out we snuck out anyway, right? There’s really no point in sneaking back in, is there? We already did what we needed to do,” Dahyun replied.

“You’re right,” Jihyo confirmed. “It’s either we get in trouble right when we get back or as soon as we go up to JYP’s office.”

“Phew,” Mina sighed, clearly relieved she didn’t have to shift again. 

“But…” Sana began, trying to think of some excuse, but failing. She really just wanted to see Mina shift again because she thought it was cool. 

Nayeon took off and the drive back to the school was relatively quiet. Once Nayeon parked in the garage, the girls climbed out of the van with Tzuyu holding onto the briefcase with white knuckles. Together the girls marched toward the gate where the guards were posted. The people standing there were new—the other professors must have switched off. The guarding schedule was broken into shifts, as it wasn’t normal to have people standing guard near the gate. It was just something that was adapted during this uneasy time. 

As soon as they got closer, one of the professors, a man Mina was unfamiliar with, held up a hand, signaling for them to stop. “Where did you girls come from?”

“We...went out,” Nayeon stated. “We need to speak with JYP now.”

The two professors looked at each other curiously. One of them took out his phone and dialed a number. “Yes, hello sir. I have some students here—”

There was a pause. 

“Yes, those are the ones. I’ll send them up now.” He ended the call. “Alright, head right to his office. I hope you girls didn’t do anything too foolish again.”

The girls wordlessly re-entered the school grounds and began making their way toward JYP’s office. “He’s not going to be mad, right?” Sana asked.

“Maybe a little bit, but it’ll be just like last time when we went out to save Tzuyu. He couldn’t be that mad since we actually saved her,” Nayeon responded.

“Plus, we never actually went inside the HCA’s headquarters...that was the brilliant part of my plan! If anything he should be proud that we used our powers in the field!” Dahyun suggested.

They approached the office door and Nayeon slowly opened it. JYP was sitting at his desk and he looked up as soon as the door opened. “What did you girls do this time?” he asked.

Jihyo lightly pushed Dahyun forward. “We figured out how the HCA took away Tzuyu’s powers!” she announced. “Somatic genome editing! And we got information regarding Tzuyu’s DNA, so we thought you could reach out to your connections and see—”

“How did you get this information?” he asked calmly. 

“We went back to the same building Tzuyu was held...they haven’t moved, probably because they have too much based at that location,” Jihyo answered. “We didn’t actually go inside though, we got a scientist to give us all this information and then Mina wiped his memory afterward.”

JYP was silent for a moment, and Mina tensed up, expecting him to raise his voice. “I’ll reach out to my contacts about that,” he said. “But you must understand, every time you leave the campus grounds you’re putting yourselves at risk. This world is not friendly to mutants right now. Perhaps in a few years, organizations like the HCA won’t exist. For now they do though, and they are not to be underestimated. If you ever have an idea like that again, please come forward and tell me. Do not assume I’ll dismiss something. I could’ve offered more help and assistance, or sent someone more trained to go with you.”

“I’m sorry.” Dahyun hung her head. “I just assumed you’d say no, so I wanted to take matters into my own hands.”

“You’re lucky no one got hurt.”

“Yes.” 

There was a pause. “Let me see the genetic code.” JYP outstretched his hand, and Tzuyu gently handed him the briefcase. 

“I might be able to get my powers back,” Tzuyu told him. “If the same process that wrote over my DNA is repeated, my mutation should be able to be reinserted.”

“But there is a risk,” Jihyo reminded her. “The scientist we spoke to mentioned the results could be unpredictable.” 

Tzuyu shot Jihyo an annoyed look but said nothing. 

“From what I understand, somatic genome editing is an extensive and expensive process. We certainly don’t have the means to do it here,” JYP began. Tzuyu’s face began to fall, so he quickly continued. “But I know many scientists that sympathize with mutants or are mutants themselves. And of course money is no issue.” Tzuyu’s face began to light up again. “You girls are free to go again. I’ll look into this matter. But remember, no more going off campus.”

“Yes, thank you,” all of the girls replied. They each bowed slightly and then left his office. 

Dahyun sighed in relief. “That went better than expected.”

“Jihyo, can I talk to you for a moment?” Tzuyu stated. Jihyo nodded, while the other girls gave each other worried looks and continued on ahead without the two girls, back toward their rooms.

“Why would you bring up the risks to JYP like that?” Tzuyu asked Jihyo with a betrayed expression, once everyone was out of earshot.

“Because he deserves to know you could be putting yourself at risk—”

“I don’t care about the risk!” Tzuyu raised her voice slightly and it cracked at the edges. 

“I just couldn’t bear it if something happened to you,” Jihyo confessed. “I know this is your decision, but please just think about this for a moment.”

“I have thought about it. I’m done thinking. Every moment since they took my powers away from me has been torture. I feel incomplete...like a shell of myself missing my core. You wouldn’t understand.” Tzuyu crossed her arms. 

“When we went out on Wednesday, you didn’t enjoy yourself?” Jihyo asked, with huge eyes that looked slightly heart broken. 

Tzuyu’s scowl softened slightly at the sight. “Of course I did,” she admitted. 

“I like you for the person you are. You may think your strength defined you, but Tzuyu, you are the strongest person I’ve ever met—super strength or not. No one could take that away from you.” 

Tzuyu swallowed hard and stared down at her shorter friend. Jihyo slowly moved closer to Tzuyu, spreading her arms and eventually wrapping her in a hug. Tzuyu buried herself into Jihyo, bending her neck and letting her face rest on Jihyo’s shoulder. 

“I still want to try though,” Tzuyu whispered. “I at least need to see if JYP can find someone who might be able to provide the equipment and expertise to edit my genes.”

“If that’s what you want, I’ll support you,” Jihyo whispered back. She began rubbing Tzuyu’s back comfortingly. “You know I’ll like you no matter what. You could grow a second head and you’d still be my Tzuyu.”

“Ew,” Tzuyu made a face and Jihyo laughed despite not even being able to see it. 

“That won’t happen, I promise,” Jihyo said, smiling. She released Tzuyu and reached up to wipe a tear from under the girl’s left eye. These days, Tzuyu’s tears were showing themselves more easily. Before this past week, Jihyo hadn’t seen Tzuyu cry since she caught her alone in the gym a few years ago, missing her family that was back in Taiwan. Jihyo told her then that she shouldn’t be afraid to cry. It meant she was human.

 

Mina parted ways with the rest of the girls, smiling at Sana and Dahyun, who were walking hand in hand, and even gave a curt nod to Nayeon. She couldn’t stay mad at the older girl forever, even if Mina wanted to.

She reached into her purse and pulled out her room key. Unlocking her bedroom door, she stepped inside and flicked on the light switch. 

There was someone standing in the middle of her room, facing away from her. Mina froze and breathed in sharply, nearly crying out. It took Mina a moment to recognize that tall and lean frame and sweeping brown hair. 

“Akari?” Mina asked, taking a hesitant step forward. What was she doing standing in Mina’s room in the dark? “What—”

Mina’s breath caught in her throat as Akari spun around. Mina was finally able to get a good look at her. What she saw was shocking. 

Akari’s arms were shaking slightly. Her head lolled forward. Her eyes were wide. Running down her arms, soaking through her school uniform, was bright red blood. The pathways it made down her arms looked like the branches of an upside-down tree. It dripped off her finger tips and stained the dark blue carpet. 

“Mina…” the girl choked out, starting to tip forward. Mina ran to her and caught her before she collapsed onto the ground. Mina held the shivering girl up, feeling the blood staining her sweater. “I did something bad.”


	15. Bizarro

“What did you do?” Mina whispered gently near Akari’s ear. The girl’s entire body was shaking. Mina spread her feet into a more athletic stance to help support Akari’s weight, which was leaning entirely into her body. Akari’s face was only inches from Mina’s, and the older girl’s eyes looked slightly distant—as if staring off into another world. Mina had never seen Akari look this broken before. 

Slowly, with trembling hands, Akari reached up and touched Mina’s face. Her fingers trailed down from Mina’s cheekbone to her jawline, staining Mina’s cheek with warm, wet blood. The feeling disgusted her, but Mina didn't flinch away from Akari’s touch. 

“What happened, Akari?” Mina asked with a gentler tone. Her own voice trembled slightly at the sight of Akari like this.

There was only silence, though. Mina craned her neck back to look at Akari’s face. The girl’s eyes were now closed. “Akari?” Mina asked. The girl had clearly passed out. 

Slowly and carefully, Mina laid Akari back against her bed. Then Mina lifted the girl’s feet up onto it so that she was laying on it horizontally. Mina ran out of her room to go find Miss Suzy, who was hopefully in her office. Flying down the hallway as if she had wings, Mina’s eyes were starting to sting with tears. What had Akari done?

On her way to find Miss Suzy, Mina passed by Jihyo and Tzuyu, who were walking hand in hand back to their rooms. The sight of Mina sprinting toward them with blood covering the front of her shirt made them both stop immediately. “Mina?” Jihyo called out. “What happened?”

Tears were freely flowing down her cheeks now as Mina let her feet carry her forward. She flew past Jihyo and Tzuyu. “I need to find Miss Suzy,” she yelled back to Jihyo without stopping or even bothering to turn around. Jihyo and Tzuyu looked at each other and then both took off in Mina’s direction, trailing behind her.

“Check her office!” Jihyo yelled to Mina, who soon disappeared around a corner. “There’s never a dull moment around here, is there?” Jihyo muttered as her and Tzuyu both continued to run after Mina. 

Mina practically slid to a halt when she made it to Miss Suzy’s office. Luckily the door was open, and the professor was working on something at her desk. She looked up at the sound of Mina’s sneakers squeaking against the tile floor. 

“Akari needs help,” Mina breathed out, struggling to get air into her lungs. She hadn’t pushed herself to run that fast in a long time. 

At the serious look on Mina’s face and the blood staining Mina’s face and her light blue sweater, Miss Suzy quickly stood up. “Take me to her,” she ordered, and Mina began a light jog back toward her dorm room. Suzy stayed by her side. 

“I found her in my room, covered in blood,” Mina explained on their way back. “She passed out...I’m not sure what happened.” 

“You’re alright?” the professor asked. 

“I’m fine...this is all her blood.” 

“She’ll be okay,” Miss Suzy assured. Suzy had no idea how badly Akari was injured but she knew her healing powers could heal even the most deadly of wounds—so long as the person was still alive, that is. She’d never been able to bring someone back from death itself. 

The two practically ran into Jihyo and Tzuyu, who immediately let them pass and spun around to follow behind them. “Can someone tell us what’s going on?” Jihyo asked. The moment was almost comedic—with the four girls running in unison—if it weren’t for the urgent nature of the migration back toward Mina’s room. 

“It’s Akari,” Mina explained. “She’s hurt.” 

“Can you go tell JYP?” Suzy asked Jihyo, who nodded and pulled Tzuyu around with her to go in the direction of his office. 

Miss Suzy and Mina made it back to her room. They found Akari still on the bed with her eyes closed. She looked very pale and had grey circles under her eyes. Not to mention there was blood soaking her clothes and Mina’s comforter. 

Miss Suzy gently placed a hand on Akari’s shoulder, examining the girl. She lifted up the sleeves of Akari’s t-shirt and revealed deep and gaping wounds which were the source of all the blood. Gently lifting up Akari’s shirt, Suzy and Mina could both see black and blue bruises covering her stomach and chest.

“Her ribcage...it’s nearly been shattered.”

Mina put a hand to her mouth and held in a sob. Miss Suzy took a breath and closed her eyes—concentrating on healing the wounds. Mina watched in awe as Akari’s skin began to regenerate and heal itself, covering the wounds until her skin looked completely clean and healthy. Even the bruises began to shrink and disappear. There was still blood everywhere, but no more blood would spill from Akari. 

“She’ll just need some rest,” Suzy replied. “Let’s get her to the health wing and get you some new clothes and sheets, okay?”

After a few minutes, JYP arrived with Jihyo and Tzuyu in tow. After a brief explanation from Mina, he lifted Akari into his arms and began to carry her back to the health wing, where she could rest. “Tzuyu, can you come with me so we can head back to my office after Akari is taken care of? There’s something urgent I need to discuss with you.”

“Sure,” Tzuyu replied, feeling her skin crawl at the word “urgent”. Was this about the information they’d extracted from the scientist earlier? If so, that was rather quick. Jihyo gave Tzuyu an encouraging nod as she followed JYP out the door.

“Stay here and get changed, okay?” Suzy said, looking at Mina, who had moved forward to follow JYP. “She’ll be back at the health wing when you’re ready. She’s not going anywhere.” And then Suzy disappeared out the door as well. 

“Mina, let’s get you cleaned up,” Jihyo replied, gently placing her hand on Mina’s back and guiding her toward her bathroom. Mina compiled without a word. 

“Let’s get you out of these clothes, hmm?” Jihyo murmured. She helped Mina pull the sweater off over her head and placed it on the bathroom counter in the sink so it wouldn’t stain anything else with blood. Mina’s cami managed to be blood free, but her arms and bits of her face were red.

Jihyo looked under the sink and found a stack of wash cloths. She took one and soaked it in warm water, then she grabbed some of Mina’s body wash and soaped up the cloth. With a delicate touch, she began to softly wipe the skin on Mina’s arms, getting rid of the blood that was caked on. 

“Jihyo?” Mina lifted her downcast eyes to look at the girl who was doting on her. 

“Hm?”

“Do you think we’re better off with Akari here?” 

Jihyo was silent for a moment, letting the question settle in her brain. “She’s better off being here with you,” she finally answered. “She needs you.”

Mina swallowed and watched as Jihyo continued to gently wipe off her arms. “I think I need her too,” Mina admitted. It felt nice to say it out loud. Perhaps not in the same way she needed Chaeyoung, but a part of Mina just couldn’t let Akari go and would probably always care for her. Their fates were too intertwined for her to not want to be a part of Akari’s live anymore. 

“You don’t have to feel guilty for caring for more than one person, you know,” Jihyo interrupted Mina’s thoughts, and then it crossed Mina’s mind that Jihyo could hear everything she was thinking now. She often forgot Jihyo had that power. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude.” Jihyo smiled at Mina apologetically. “Your thoughts are just kind of loud right now.” 

“It’s alright,” Mina smiled back, but her cheeks were reddening slightly. At least she wasn’t thinking of anything too embarrassing. 

“There’s different levels of love, I think,” Jihyo continued. “We love our friends and we love our family, but it’s not the same kind of love. You can love Chaeyoung and love Akari too, for different reasons. Chaeyoung will understand that, as long as she knows the way you see Akari and the way you view her are different.” 

Jihyo rewet the cloth and began to lightly pat Mina’s cheek that Akari had touched only minutes ago and stained with her blood. The blood was smeared from just below Mina’s eye to the corner of her lips. 

“Chaeyoung and I...we’re together now.”

Jihyo smiled knowingly. She could see the memory of Chaeyoung and Mina sharing their first real kiss in Mina’s mind clearly. “I’m happy for you. It was only a matter of time before you two lovebirds got together.” 

“Like you and Tzuyu?” Mina responded, curling the corners of her lips into a knowing smile as well. 

At Jihyo’s suddenly flustered facial expression, Mina let out a laugh. “You two are obvious. It’s cute.” 

“After things are settled with her powers, we’ll figure things out.” Jihyo lightly patted a spot on Mina’s chin where blood had dripped down. 

“Don’t wait too long to tell someone you care about them,” Mina warned. 

Jihyo nodded, a bit surprised that Mina had suddenly turned the lecturing back around to her. “Okay, you’re all cleaned up. Now dry off and I’ll meet you outside. We can walk together to see how Akari is doing.” Jihyo threw a towel at Mina and smiled again at the younger girl before exiting the bathroom and leaving Mina alone. 

Mina turned to face herself in the mirror, seeing that Jihyo had thoroughly scrubbed all the blood off her skin. She wiped herself down and exited the room, grabbing a sweatshirt and slipping it on over her head before she walked with Jihyo into the hallway. 

 

Mina and Jihyo walked quickly to the health wing, where Sana had been recovering from her stab wound only weeks ago. They found Suzy making Akari comfortable. She’d managed to change the girl into a gown and out of her tattered and blood stained clothes. Laying on the bed with her eyes closed and her hair fanned out across the pillow, Akari looked almost angelic. 

 

“She’ll probably be out for awhile,” Suzy stated as she covered the girl with a blanket. “Even though her wounds are healed, the pain will still linger. Broken ribs are incredibly painful...nearly shattered ribs are agonizing.”

“What could have done something like that?” Mina asked.

Miss Suzy shook her head. “Someone incredibly strong. A mutant, perhaps.”

Mina couldn’t imagine how someone could have done this to Akari, who was trained in combat and could simply teleport in a flash. 

“I gave her some pain killers to help, so she should be as comfortable as she can be. I have some work to finish up, but if you need any help please come and get me.”

“Thank you,” Mina replied, bowing gratefully to Miss Suzy. 

“There’s no need to thank me,” Miss Suzy assured. She took Mina’s shoulders and gave the girl a brave smile before she left Jihyo and Mina alone with Akari. 

Mina pulled a chair close to Akari’s bed and sat down. “I’m going to wait here until she wakes up.”

“And I’m waiting with you, to keep you company.” Jihyo pulled another chair over next to Mina. “You really don’t know what happened to her, huh?” 

Mina shook her head sadly. “She just told me she did something bad.” Mina’s stomach churned as she envisioned what trouble Akari had gotten into to have her ribs broken like that. 

 

 

“We’re back!” Sana had chimed as soon as her and Nayeon had entered Sana and Momo’s room. Momo had been waiting anxiously for her friends and girlfriend to return from their mission to help Tzuyu get her powers back. To pass the time Momo had done some intense ab workouts and then taken a nap. 

Momo bounced up from her bed and immediately ran to Nayeon, engulfing her into a hug. Nayeon let out a laugh as Momo clung to her like a child. “How did it go?” Momo asked as she pulled away from Nayeon and stepped back.

“Hey, don’t I get a hug too?” Sana pouted and looked at Momo pointly. Momo simply rolled her eyes and made a face of pure judgement in the direction of her roommate.

“We might’ve found a way to help Tzuyu get her powers back,” Nayeon replied, completely ignoring Sana. She’d had enough of the girl’s antics for today. “It might be risky and costly, but it’s possible.”

“That’s good,” Momo sighed in relief. “I was so worried. I hate seeing Tzuyu so sad all the time.” 

“Hey, do you wanna take a walk?” Nayeon asked, taking one of Momo’s hands and intertwining their fingers together.

“Sure.” 

Nayeon began to pull Momo out the door. “You kids behave now, ya hear?” Sana called after them with a big smile on her face. 

“I need to talk to you about something,” Nayeon explained after she gently closed the door to Sana and Momo’s room. 

Momo’s face instantly grew worried. Her brow furrowed and her lips pressed together into a pout. “What’s wrong?”

“Something happened...let’s talk about it once we get somewhere private.”

“Okay.” The walk down to the library was one of the longest walks of Momo’s life. She had no idea what Nayeon was gonna say to her, which caused her to feel nauseous. She just kept squeezing Nayeon’s hand in her own. Nayeon would squeeze back, and that made Momo feel slightly better. 

“So…” Momo began once they sat down in the back. The library was empty due to the fact that it was a Friday night. 

“I messed up. Like colossally.” And then Nayeon leaned her head against Momo’s shoulder and she cried. She cried and cried. Momo held her girlfriend and let her cry in silence. She ran her fingers through Nayeon’s long red hair soothingly. 

After a few minutes, Nayeon stopped crying and just continued to let the silence engulf them both. Momo patiently waited for Nayeon to start talking. 

“I almost tricked Akari into leaving. I pretended to be Mina and told Akari she should stay away.” Nayeon’s words were said in a dead-sounding, monotone voice. Nayeon simply laid down the facts like cards on a table. Everything was out in the open. Still, Momo waited for Nayeon to continue explaining before she spoke. 

“Mina found out what I did. Luckily she stopped Akari but...what if she didn’t? Akari could’ve flipped out. She could’ve just left and Mina would’ve been heartbroken without an explanation. I thought I was doing the right thing to keep everyone safe, you know? I just want everyone to be safe. I can’t let something happen to anyone else I love.” Nayeon began crying again and Momo rubbed her back while resting her chin on Nayeon’s shoulder. 

“You did what you thought was right,” Momo said, finally. Her voice was soft and not at all demeaning. “It might not have been the best way to go about it, but you did what you thought was best for everyone. You just tried to protect everyone, as usual.”

“Mina probably hates me now…hell, she deserves to.”

“No, I’m sure she doesn’t,” Momo assured. She knew Mina was probably incapable of hating anyone. “It might take her awhile to forgive you but...I know she cares about you. She will let you back in given some time. This situation is...not ideal. No one really knows what to do. We’re all just trying our best to cope.”

Nayeon lifted her head off of Momo’s chest and began to dry her eyes. “Since when did you become so wise?”

“I have my moments,” Momo smiled gently down at Nayeon’s red-from-tears face, causing the older girl to both laugh and cry at the same time.

“You deserve better than me.”

Momo quickly took Nayeon’s chin in her hands and lifted the girl’s head so they were both making eye contact. “Don’t you ever say that,” Momo warned. “You’re beautiful and kind...and you might try to hide how sensitive you are behind your sarcasm and teasing but I see right through you, Nayeon. I know exactly who you are and I love that person. I love you.” 

Nayeon’s breath caught in her throat and she felt like she was choking on air. “You...love me?”

“Yup.”

“Momo…” Nayeon looked intently into the younger girl’s eyes, as if to confirm that this wasn’t all a dream. This was happening. Her girlfriend who she’d been crushing on for over a year confessed to her. “I…”

“You don’t have to say it back if you don’t want to,” Momo assured, smiling warmly at Nayeon. “You can take your time.” 

“No, Momo...I love you too. I’ve loved you for awhile now, before we even started dating.”

It was like Momo’s brain short-circuited because her eyes glazed over and she stared out into space. After a moment, Momo gathered herself and took a breath. “...Really?”

“Yeah,” Nayeon admitted. Her bunny-teeth smile lit up her face and Momo couldn’t help but smile shyly back. She suddenly had a hard time looking Nayeon in the eye now that both of their feelings were laid out on the table. 

“You’re so adorable,” Nayeon squealed, pinching one of Momo’s cheeks. “And I love you. I love you, I love you, I love you.” 

The two of them started giggling. 

“Are you feeling any better?” Momo asked.

Nayeon nodded. “I am, thank you.” 

 

A few hours later, Akari awoke with a start, gasping for breath. The girl tried to sit up but Mina was on her feet in a flash and holding the girl down.

“You need to rest, it’s okay. Lay down,” Mina instructed. 

Akari had wild eyes, but they softened slightly at the sight of Mina hovering above her. Akari did as she was told and laid back down. “Ow,” she whined, putting a hand to stomach. 

“You were badly hurt but Miss Suzy healed you,” Mina explained. 

“Akari, can you tell us what happened?” Jihyo asked, standing up beside Mina.

Akari licked her dry lips and took a breath. “I was...on the internet.”

The statement was so absurd that Mina nearly barked out a laugh. 

“I was bored and Somi was showing me how to use the computers in the library,” Akari continued. “I was looking at the news and just doing research to pass the time. And all the sudden everyone got notifications––news alerts on their phones––and Somi showed me footage of something that was broadcasting live. There was a mutant terrorizing the streets.”

“So we’ve got a rogue mutant on our hands?” Jihyo asked.

“Rogue is one word for her,” Akari muttered. 

“Did you try to stop her?” Mina asked, looking down at Akari with concern. It explained the rough shape Akari had been in. 

Akari turned her head–ever so slowly–to meet Mina’s eyes. “I tried,” her voice dropped to an almost whisper, “and failed.” 

“How did...someone beat you?” Mina was dumbfounded that the most powerful mutant she knew had somehow been bested.

“She was more powerful than I’d ever seen…” Akari said. Her eyes looked somewhat haunted.

“Who was she?” Jihyo prodded.

Akari took another breath, as if steeling herself to deliver information she knew wouldn’t be taken well. “Tzuyu. It was Tzuyu.”

“That’s impossible!” Jihyo replied, crossing her arms and sneering at Akari. “Tzuyu was with Mina and I out on a mission for the past few hours! She never left the van!” Jihyo looked at Mina for her support. Mina wore a confused expression but nodded.

“I know,” Akari assured. “But this was Tzuyu. Everything about her was the same. How she looked...even her powers. She had super strength. She was destroying everything in sight. Throwing cars, busting down buildings. It was chaos.”

“Still impossible.”

“I thought so too, so I had to make sure of it. I went out to find her in person. I teleported there as soon as I saw the live videos to try to stop her. But she was more powerful than I imagined. When I got there I realized she had more than just super strength. I couldn’t even start frying her brain before she did the same to me. She had me on my knees in a instant,” Akari confessed with downcast eyes, clearly ashamed. “That’s when she started beating me, and I thought I was going to die.”

“How did you escape?” Mina asked.

“She got distracted by the cops. They finally showed up, but before they even got to shoot the girl had them dropping one by one. A few of them shot a few bullets off at her but she dodged them with ease. It was like time slowed down for her. She could move...incredibly fast. While she wasn’t looking at me I managed to take a few steps and teleport to the first place that came to mind.”

“My room,” Mina whispered. 

“So you’re saying she had super speed too? And she could fry your brain just like your own power?” Jihyo stood there with her arms crossed, looking both skeptical and stunned.

“She has multiple powers, yes.”

“So that couldn’t have been Tzuyu then. You know she’s been stripped of her super strength!”

“Don’t believe me, look at any Korean news outlet now. I’m sure there’s videos and pictures plastered everywhere. She might still be terrorizing the city since I wasn’t able to stop her.”

Jihyo’s face turned into one of panic. She pulled out her phone and quickly opened up the main news site. Immediately she saw the headlines. 

Rogue Mutant Terrorizes Seoul—10 Dead, 30+ injured.

She scrolled down on the article and saw the pictures. Her heart immediately constricted. Even though the pictures were blurry—taken by civilians’ iPhones—she could tell the girl did look an awful lot like Tzuyu. 

Jihyo clicked on a video link, which had been posted on Youtube. Mina moved to stand beside Jihyo and peeked at the girl’s phone screen as well. 

The video shot portrayed this rogue mutant lifting cars as if it were nothing, and throwing them down the street like toys. They crashed on top of the road, other cars, and even the sides of buildings. Screams could be heard as people rushed inside to find safety. 

This video was shot using a more professional camera, and the cameraman zoomed in on the rogue mutant’s face. Sure enough, there was Tzuyu...or a girl that looked exactly like her. Jihyo nearly dropped her phone. 

“But…” Jihyo sputtered. Her mouth and tongue felt numb. 

“A twin she doesn’t know about, maybe?” Mina suggested. 

“She’s an only child,” Jihyo answered. “This must’ve been what JYP had to talk to Tzuyu about in his office...he must’ve just found out about the attack himself. He can’t believe she did this...he can’t possibly think—”

“Of course he doesn’t.” Mina put her hand lightly on Jihyo’s forearm. “We all know Tzuyu is powerless. She couldn’t hurt anyone even if she wanted to.”

“The attack isn’t still happening, is it?” Akari asked, pulling herself up into a sitting position with a grunt. 

Jihyo shook her head. “No, it looks like she retreated...she just left, shortly after you did, actually. There’s reports of her attacking you in this article too. You’re the other unidentified mutant.”

“Thank god,” Akari muttered. “The police were no match for her. If she’d been at it any longer then I’m sure the government would’ve begged us to take care of her. But why did she retreat? She was unstoppable...”

“I need to talk to Tzuyu…” Jihyo said, backing up from Akari and Mina slowly. “I need...to talk to her,” she spun around and walked out of the room, heading toward JYP’s office, where Tzuyu was most likely still being held. 

 

 

Jihyo walked quickly back toward JYP’s office in a bit of a panic. She didn’t bother knocking before throwing open the door, as she could sense Tzuyu was on the other side. She could hear the girl’s thoughts—wild and erratic. 

Both JYP and Tzuyu looked up in surprise as Jihyo entered. Jihyo bowed apologetically to JYP and then explained herself. “I’ve come to tell you that Tzuyu is innocent!” Jihyo declared. “She was with Mina, Sana, Nayeon, Dahyun and I this entire afternoon. During most of the attack she was here! And you know she doesn’t have her super strength! It’s impossible that she has anything to—”

“Jihyo,” Tzuyu held up a hand, silencing the older girl immediately.

“We all know Tzuyu is innocent here,” JYP assured, “but it’s the rest of the world that doesn’t know that.” 

“They’ll listen to us, won’t they? They have to believe us when they see that Tzuyu doesn’t have any powers! She can’t possibly be...accused of this…” Jihyo’s voice began to die out when she got a good look at Tzuyu and saw pain behind the girl’s eyes. 

“This is a very serious matter and I’m doing all I can to protect Tzuyu.” JYP’s voice was serious yet also gentle. “I’ve already been in contact with the government and the police force. They’re sending officials here to investigate.”

“People were killed, Jihyo,” Tzuyu said. Her expression was laced with guilt and sadness. “People can’t be blamed for assuming it’s me who did this.”

There’d be more people poking and proding at Tzuyu, but Jihyo wouldn’t let them take her away. She couldn’t handle the thought of Tzuyu being condemned for something she had nothing to do with. “Who is this mutant?” Jihyo asked. 

“When I was taken by the HCA, one of the scientists that operated on me told me they had big plans for me,” Tzuyu replied sadly. 

“This girl is most likely a creation of the HCA. Their goal is make people afraid of mutants. By unleashing a rampant one on the streets, they’ve succeeded.” 

“Akari mentioned this thing had super strength, super speed and could manipulate the brain…”

“Tzuyu, Momo and Akari. These are the three people who’ve been in direct contact with the HCA,” JYP explained, causing a lightbulb to go off above Jihyo’s head. 

“You mean…”

“They’ve taken DNA from all three girls to construct a super mutant.”


	16. The End of All Things

South Korea was in a state of chaos. For the first time, a mutant had committed mass murder and caused extreme destruction to public and private property. It was most people’s worst fear come true. Protesters flooded the capital, calling for the Mutant Registration Act to be pushed forward.

“I want my children to grow up somewhere safe,” a woman holding a picket sign reading “MUTANTS, OR MONSTERS?” said. A news reporter was holding a microphone up to her mouth. “Nowhere is safe when mutants can be anywhere. Humans deserve the right to know if their neighbors, colleagues, even friends, are mutants. It’s for everyone’s safety.”

“They might look like us and sound like us, but we can’t let them fool us. They have the power to destroy and kill with the snap of their fingers. How can we stop a threat if we can’t even identify the perpetrators? Why is it that mutants don’t want to register if they have nothing to hide?”

“That girl just lifted a car like it was nothing and threw it across the road. I’m lucky to even be alive,” a man, who happened to witness the rogue mutant attack, told the news reporter.

“A registration list will only further alienate mutants and put them in danger. A public database would allow discrimination, and also allow terrorist organizations like the HCA to target specific individuals easily,” a mutant activist stated. There was a diminishing number of people fighting for the rights of mutants, as they often got accused of being mutants themselves, but there were still some well-known speakers. 

The nation was clearly divided on the issue, but a growing number of people were beginning to believe that registration was a step in the right direction. The HCA’s plan of driving fear into the hearts of the country’s citizens had worked. In fact, it seemed public opinion across the world was beginning to sway more in the favor of taking rights away from mutants.

Only minutes after the news of the rogue mutant broke out, Nayeon and Momo wandered JYP’s school, looking for Tzuyu herself. Eventually they ran into Chaeyoung, Dahyun, Sana and Jeongyeon, who all seemed to be just as confused as they were. Tzuyu wasn’t answering texts or phone calls, and neither was Jihyo or Mina, so they decided to search every viable inch of the school they could think of. Instead of Tzuyu they found Mina and Akari in the health wing of the school. 

It was slightly awkward for Nayeon, to see both of them there—especially Akari, who gave Nayeon a pointed glare as soon as she entered the room—but there were more important things to worry about then some petty drama from a few days ago. Besides, Momo was there beside Nayeon, holding her hand and resting her chin on Nayeon’s shoulder. Momo made Nayeon feel safe.

After a brief explanation of what happened, Jihyo, Tzuyu and JYP made there way into the room, catching everyone off guard. 

“Tzuyu!” Momo cried, and pulled the taller girl into a hug. Tzuyu squeezed back, feeling slight relief to be surrounded by friends that knew she wasn’t responsible for all that destruction being repeatedly shown on the news. “Are you okay?”

“I’m alright,” the girl whispered, but she looked tired and a bit worried. In all honesty, the fact that someone else wearing her face was running around killing people terrified her. 

“I’m glad to see you’re awake,” JYP stated, giving Akari a nod. “Can you tell me a bit more about your encounter with the super mutant?” 

Akari took a breath. “She had all my powers and more, like Momo’s super speed and Tzuyu’s strength, and she looked exactly like Tzuyu, but really that’s all I know. I would’ve been dead if I stuck around any longer.”

JYP nodded.

“Super mutant?” Nayeon asked. “What’s that?”

“A genetically engineered mutant. We believe the HCA created this being to cause destruction.”

“How does it have Akari, Tzuyu and Momo’s power?” Jeongyeon replied, crossing her arms. “If the HCA genetically engineered this thing…”

“They must’ve collected DNA samples,” Dahyun guessed.

“Did you...collect Momo’s DNA for them?” Nayeon asked, staring Akari down. The two locked eyes and there was a clear tension building in the air. 

“Of course not!” Akari assured, looking disgusted at the accusation. “Not knowingly, anyway. They did ask for her phone though after I...erm, froze her and used it to lure you all to the warehouse. It seemed trivial.”

“That’s where they found the DNA then,” Mina replied. 

“This has been their game plan for awhile,” Jihyo observed. “Since they started working with Akari they must’ve began constructing that thing.” 

“Why does she look exactly like Tzuyu?” Momo asked.

“They want the world to fear us. It’s easy to make that happen when a murderer is wearing the face of someone you’re supposed to trust.” JYP leaned back against the wall, looking like he was deep in thought.

Jihyo rubbed her temples in circles, still trying to wrap her head around what JYP was saying. “How did they create this thing?”

“My best guess is that they edited the DNA of a mutant already in existence. They inserted DNA taken from Tzuyu, Momo and Akari. Because of this, this mutant must be extremely unstable. She’ll be hard to control, even for the HCA themselves.” 

“How are we supposed to stop her if she has all of Akari’s powers and more?” Nayeon had her arms crossed and looked a bit dejected. 

Everyone was silent for a moment. “There’s one person here we know has the power to take down any mutant.” JYP looked at Mina, and the rest of the girls followed suit. 

Under all the gazing eyes, Mina clasped her hands in front of her and looked down at the ground. She managed to take down Akari, yes, but they’d gotten lucky. She’d had Nayeon to turn back the clock if anything went wrong. “I may be able to do something if I can get close enough to her.”

“That’s assuming this thing will go on a rampage again,” Jihyo replied.

“It will,” Akari spoke up. “The HCA will use it to terrorize all of Korea until the government passes the Mutant Registration Act.”

JYP’s phone ran out loudly, making everyone jump. He answered it immediately. He nodded a few times as the person on the other line spoke. “Alright, we’ll be right there.” He looked at Tzuyu solemnly. “The police have arrived. Tzuyu, will you come with me?”

Tzuyu, who had remained silent up until this point, nodded. She began to follow the man out the door.

“Wait!” Jihyo called. “What are they gonna do to her? Please don’t let them hurt her,” she begged.

“I’ll be okay,” Tzuyu promised. She spun around and walked to Jihyo swiftly, wrapping the girl up into a hug. Jihyo squeezed her back tightly, burying her face into Tzuyu’s chest. “I’ll be okay,” she repeated—this time to assure herself.

“You girls need to get Miss Suzy. She’ll have special instructions for you,” JYP said, rather vaguely. JYP and Tzuyu disappeared out of the room, leaving the rest of the girls alone. Jihyo knew exactly what these instructions were, being able to read JYP’s thoughts rather clearly, but she kept it to herself. Nayeon gave Jihyo a knowing look but said nothing.

“We have to find her,” Jihyo said. Akari began to move off the bed but Mina put a hand on the girl’s shoulder and pushed her back down. Akari gave Mina a surprised look and Mina simply gazed back firmly.

“You need to stay here and rest. We’ll go find Suzy and let you know what she says.” Mina patted Akari on the head and the older girl huffed, but knew better than to argue. Her body still did ache all over, even though Suzy healed her most extreme wounds. 

“Jihyo, can you tell where Miss Suzy is?” Jeongyeon asked.

Jihyo nodded, stepping forward. She used her powers to located Suzy by sensing her thoughts, which were radiating like sound waves. “Way ahead of you. She’s actually headed our way now, she’s in the hallway.”

“Let’s meet her there then,” Nayeon suggested. 

 

 

JYP’s school became chaos. Most students had no idea what was going on—they’d only seen the news footage of a girl that looked exactly like Tzuyu destroying Seoul. The professors and teachers had gathered the small student body into the mess hall. 

Miss Suzy, however, had a different task. JYP had given her special instructions in case of an emergency, and this certainly qualified as one. She began to walk back toward the medical wing where Akari was being kept, knowing that that was where the girls probably were. They met Suzy in the hallway on her way there. Each girl had a face filled with curiosity and a bit of fear. 

Without any more than a “follow me” the girls were trailing behind Miss Suzy as she headed toward the east wing. At the very end of the wing, there was a door everyone knew about, but what was on the other side was a bit of a mystery. JYP was rumored to go inside every once in a while, so many guessed it was a secret hideout of sorts. 

“I was instructed to give you each something in the case of an emergency where JYP was away.” On a keyboard next to the door, Suzy typed in a code, and the door unlocked. She pushed it open, revealing a dimly lit room. As soon as Suzy stepped inside, fluorescent lights came to life, erupting each wall in a brilliant glow. 

Jihyo was the first to enter, followed by Jeongyeon. The rest of the girls followed suit. Mina hesitated, however. Chaeyoung noticed how Mina lingered by the threshold of the door, staring inside the room with a look of nervousness.

“What’s wrong?” Chaeyoung asked, staring at Mina in concern.

Mina shook her head. “I’m not sure. I just got this feeling...that once we step through that door there’s no going back.”

Chaeyoung reached out and took Mina’s hand in her own. “We’ll do it together then. Nothing bad can happen when we’re together, right?”

Mina smiled at that—how Chaeyoung believed that to be true. Mina wished that were the case. Squeezing Chaeyoung’s hand, Mina stepped forward with Chaeyoung at her side. As they entered, they both heard gasps coming from the girls ahead.

“This is...amazing!” Dahyun exclaimed. “Dibs on the green one!”

“Actually, JYP had one tailor made for all of you...even Akari.” Suzy stood back and let the girls examine a row of ten glass display cases, each containing a mannequin with a one-piece, sleek looking black outfit with a horizontal stripe of color going across the chest and the edges of the popped collar. “The orange one is for you, Dahyun.” 

“This is like straight out of a superhero movie,” Chaeyoung muttered with wide eyes, staring at each suit as if they were a piece of artwork in a museum. In some ways, they were. They were clearly rather expensive and custom made.

“Why did he make these for us?” Jihyo asked. She’d known about the suits since the moment JYP had thought about it as he left with Tzuyu, but she wasn’t able to figure out why he had them made.

“This is the time when your training will be put to the test. He wants you to work together as a team to stop the threat—in this case, this rogue mutant.” 

“He trusts us to go out there and fight it?” Jeongyeon exclaimed, a bit surprised. “Isn’t there people more qualified in this school? Like you and the rest of the teachers and professors?”

Suzy smiled slightly at that. “Your powers compliment each other better than any other team that could be put together here. You each make up for each other’s weaknesses. You love each other too, and sometimes that is the most powerful weapon of all.” Suzy couldn’t help but laugh at her own corniness, but she continued. 

“He believes you’re ready, and that if you each use your powers together then you can defeat any threat. I know you’ve begun to work as a team in the past and you’ve proved to be successful already. Sneaking out to the HCA headquarters today…” the woman trailed off. “Pretending to be me and tricking the guards, that was smart.” Suzy gave Mina a knowing look and the younger girl quickly bowed her head in embarrassment. 

“That was my idea!” Sana bragged, smiling brightly. Dahyun gave her a pat on the head and Sana looked pleased.

“When this super mutant attacks again, you need to be ready. You have to suit up and work as a team to take her down. Wearing these outfits should help make you seem more professional. The material was also specifically designed to be durable, comfortable and also protective.” 

Momo placed her hand against the glass pane in front of a suit that was lined with pink. 

“JYP is so extra, but I love him for it,” Nayeon commented. The other girls agreed.

Suzy pointed out which suit belonged to which girl. Dahyun had orange, Mina white, Chaeyoung red, Momo pink, Jeongyeon yellow, Jihyo green, Nayeon yellow, Tzuyu blue, Sana purple and Akari silver. “You can all take your suits. Be ready to be called out when there’s another attack,” Suzy instructed. “And yes, they are machine washable.”

Dahyun and Sana cheered.

They each collected their suits from the mannequins they were displayed on by unzipping the zipper in the front. Even though Tzuyu wasn’t there, Jihyo made sure to grab the girl’s suit for her. Mina did the same for Akari’s suit. 

“So if the mutant attacks again, we’re supposed to go out there and fight it?” Jeongyeon asked.

Suzy nodded. “You’ll have permission to take a van and leave. The government has allowed this school to exist in case of a mutant attack like this—the police are powerless against this mutant so it’s up to you.”

The girls looked around at each other—their teammates. They’d be fighting side by side against an enemy that could easily be the most powerful mutant out there. Could they do it?

 

“So are we supposed to be superheros now?” Chaeyoung asked. Her and Mina were headed back to the medical wing with their suits tucked under their arms, along with Akari’s. They’d separated from the rest of the group, who headed back toward their dorm rooms. 

Mina smirked at that. “I guess we have to be, for everyone’s sake.” Her smile suddenly faded though and she looked solemn

“I don’t feel like a superhero,” Chaeyoung replied. She hadn’t really once stepped up and done something important yet. She just felt like plain old Chaeyoung—still finishing her last year of high school.

“Me either,” Mina admitted. She felt more like a supervillain. Taking on a rogue mutant that looked identical to her friend would surely be a challenge. Were they truly ready to take on this responsibility? There were certainly other mutants more qualified, weren’t there?

“What are you thinking?” Chaeyoung asked, eying her girlfriend, who looked lost in thought.

“I feel like a lot of this is falls on me...to stop this girl, I mean. I wish it didn’t have to be me. Why couldn’t it be Jihyo...or Jeongyeon...or Nayeon…?”

Chaeyoung put her arm around the older girl’s shoulder. “Because you’re Myoui Mina and you’re a badass.”

Mina let out a laugh and Chaeyoung smiled, staring at the way Mina’s eyes curled up into half moons. 

“I like to think things happen for a reason. You have these powers for a reason. No one else was supposed to have them.”

“Why me?” Mina asked.

“I’m not sure, honestly...but you know we’ll all be by your side every step of the way, right? You’re not going at this alone.”

Mina nodded, feeling reassurance from Chaeyoung’s words. “If you’re by my side I’ll find the strength to do this.”

“You don’t need me,” Chaeyoung scoffed.

“Actually, I do. I do need you, indeed.” Mina looked down at Chaeyoung intensely for a moment before she grew shy and looked away. Chaeyoung’s heart felt like it gonna fly out of her chest. 

They arrived back at the medical wing, where Akari was patiently waiting. As soon as they entered the room, Mina released Chaeyoung’s hand without thought. Chaeyoung felt her stomach drop—she knew Mina wasn’t ready to let Akari know that they were together. 

Akari was sitting up in bed and looking grumpy because she wasn’t able tag along. “This is for you,” Mina said, gently placing Akari’s suit down on the bed beside the girl. Akari immediately snatched it and inspected it closely.

“What…?”

“JYP made these for each of us. He wants us to work as a team and take down this rogue mutant,” Chaeyoung explained.

“But this girl is incredibly powerful. Going after her might be suicide…” It said a lot that Akari herself was scared of this girl. “She nearly killed me, I’m lucky to be alive.”

“That’s why we have to work together,” Mina replied, taking her own suit and hugging it to her chest. 

“We can’t just let this girl take out the entire city. We’re the only ones who can stop her,” Chaeyoung added.

Akari was silent for a moment before she finally nodded. She tossed her long, brown hair over her shoulder before she set her lips determinedly. “Okay, this will be interesting.”

 

Everyone waited anxiously for word of another attack. Tzuyu was in the custody of the police, and JYP remained there with her as she was questioned. It was hard for Jihyo to stomach the thought of her friend in that situation after just being kidnapped by the HCA. 

Nayeon put an arm around Jihyo’s shoulder. “It’ll be okay,” she assured Jihyo. They were sitting side by side on Jihyo’s bed. Ever since the day where the rogue mutant attacked, Jihyo had been more on edge than anyone else. Nayeon knew it was because she missed Tzuyu and was worried about her. “They’re not hurting Tzuyu. If anything, they’ll probably just run some tests to prove that her powers are gone.”

Jihyo nodded, knowing Nayeon was right. She trusted JYP to protect Tzuyu, but she really wished she could be with her while she went through all this. “We’ll take down this girl and then Tzuyu will be released, okay?”

It was one of the rare times when Jihyo remembered that Nayeon was actually older than her. She leaned her head against Nayeon’s shoulder and found comfort in her presence. 

“We should come up with some sort of game plan,” Jeongyeon said. She was laying down on her own bed, constantly updating social media in case there was a news alert about another attack.

“Well, I’ll be useless,” Jihyo muttered. 

“You don’t know that!” Nayeon poked Jihyo in the side.

“What am I gonna do? Read her mind and use all her insecurities against her?” Jihyo rolled her eyes.

“You’re more powerful than you think, or else JYP wouldn’t have included you on this team.” Jeongyeon rolled onto her side so she was facing Jihyo and Nayeon. 

“We need to make sure Mina can do her thing, that’s the end game of our plan,” Nayeon replied, pressing her lips together and thinking hard about their best way to approach the rogue mutant. “And she needs to be relatively close to this girl to make her unconscious, or whatever it is Mina will do.”

“This girl can make people’s heads explode if she wants to, we need to be careful,” Jihyo replied thoughtfully. 

“We need to distract her while Mina gets close. I think that’s the only way.” Jeongyeon was always full of good ideas. Nayeon and Jihyo nodded. “Let’s get everyone together and brainstorm.”

The next day, everyone gathered in Sana and Momo’s room. Packed onto the two beds, the desk chairs and the floor, the girls looked tired and anxious. Akari had even joined everyone this time, getting the okay from Suzy to return back to her old room. She had basically healed entirely—you would’ve never known she was nearly beaten to death only yesterday. 

“We need to distract this girl so Mina can get close to her and do her thing,” Jeongyeon announced. “It’s gonna take all of us because this girl can practically incapacitate us in a second.” 

“I can hang back and make sure nothing bad happens...I can keep going back in time as many times as we need,” Nayeon said. Her arms were wrapped around Momo and she was snuggled into the girl’s back. 

“Jeongyeon, Nayeon and Jihyo are our protective measures,” Mina concluded. “There in case things go wrong.”

“And Jeongyeon can probably whack the girl a few times. After all, if I can’t prevent time from being stopped, neither can this girl,” Akari added. “The trickiest part will be attacking before she does, because it’ll be very easy for her to knock us down like dominoes.” 

“We need the element of surprise, that’s the only way.” Jihyo crossed her legs and leaned forward on Sana’s bed. Her fingers drummed against the neatly pressed comforter...she wanted nothing more than to hold Tzuyu’s hand in this moment. 

“I can be a distraction,” Dahyun volunteered. “She can’t take out 10 of me at once.”

Sana looked at Dahyun with a frown on her face. Was that worry?

“I can take offense,” Chaeyoung offered.

“This isn’t soccer, Chaeng,” Sana scolded. “This is serious business.” 

“I can throw some things at her while she’s being attacked...send her flying off her feet.”

“I can take offense too. I’ll do whatever I can to put her down,” said Akari, piggybacking off Chaeyoung.

“Put her down?” Momo asked with wide eyes.

“Well, we have to kill her,” Akari stated plainly, with her face expressionless. At everyone’s silence, Akari looked around from face to face and scoffed. “What, did you think we were all going to sit in a circle and sing kumbaya?”

“I was going to knock her out and wipe her memories, just like I did with you.” Mina turned to look at Akari.

“Yeah, cause that turned out so well the first time,” Nayeon muttered more loudly than she meant to. Akari snapped and glared at her. 

“The government will probably want her. They’ll deal with her and end up executing her anyway,” Jeongyeon said while running a hand through her hair. 

“I don’t want that blood on my hands,” Mina whispered. “I’ll let the government be the executioner if they want to but I won’t do that.”

“She’s killed innocent people, Mina,” Nayeon exclaimed. “The easiest and safest bet is to just finish her. That way she can’t hurt anyone else.”

“For once, I agree with Nayeon,” Akari admitted. The two shared a surprised look of solidarity. “If you won’t kill her, then I will.”

It was settled then. A rough game plan was established. Nothing was set in stone though, as the girls had no idea what to expect. Anything could happen.

 

 

Everyone was on edge, constantly checking the news for any sign of the mutant attacking again. Classes were suspended until JYP returned, so there was only an uneasy anticipation settled over the school like a thick fog. 

“The wait is killing me,” Sana muttered, cheek smushed against her pillow. Dahyun was laying beside her and the two were eye to eye. They had the room to themselves—Momo was off with Nayeon somewhere, probably pacing the halls because Nayeon couldn’t keep still. 

“You wanna go out there and fight?” Dahyun asked with wide eyes.

“No, but we’ll have to get it over with eventually. I’d just rather get it done sooner than later, you know?”

Dahyun hummed and nodded her head. Sana looked at the other girl with a small smile on her face. Sana’s eyes were shining so brightly that Dahyun could only stare back with her lips slightly parted. 

“You still like me, right?” Dahyun asked.

Sana looked flabbergasted. “Of course! How could I ever stop loving you?”

Dahyun’s eyes widened and Sana continued to stare back with a determined look on her face. There was a beat.

“OH! Did I say ‘love’? I meant like—how could I ever stop liking you? Haha, stupid auto-correct.”

“Sana...this isn’t a text conversation and this isn’t an incorrect quotes post either.”

Another beat.

“Ha ha, the autocorrect in my head. You know? My brain trying to form words….sometimes they come out wrong. And for your information, those incorrect quote posts are usually pretty accurate,” Sana’s voice sped along as she rambled, and Dahyun realized this was the first time she’d seen the older girl so flustered. It was endearing. 

“It’s okay,” Dahyun assured, giving Sana a smile. 

Sana sighed with relief and gave a slightly nervous smile back. “Anyway, it’s only been a few days since you asked me that in the first place. What could have changed since then?”

Dahyun shrugged. It looked funny because she was laying down on her side. “It’s just hard for me to believe, I guess, this whole “you liking me” thing.”

“Why?” Sana reached out and cupped Dahyun’s face with her hand. Dahyun sucked in a shaky breath. 

“I’m just...me. And you’re you.”

“Well, I’d be a little worried if you weren’t yourself and I wasn’t me,” Sana teased.

Dahyun huffed. “You know what I mean. I’m just...dorky and awkward. You’re so beautiful and smart and funny…”

“Dahyun...you’re all of those things too.”

Dahyun scooched closer to Sana slightly. Sana took a loose strand of Dahyun’s hair and twirled it around her fingers. “Really?” Dahyun asked.

Sana nodded dramatically. “Yes, that’s why I like you. I feel lucky to know you and to be your friend.” Sana turned back to face the ceiling. “You know, Chaeyoung and Mina are a thing now, right?”

Dahyun nodded. Chaeyoung had told her with a giddy smile on her face somewhere in between all the chaos. 

“Well...maybe it’s time…”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“A hundred times, yes!” Dahyun replied. She was staring at Sana’s side profile, mesmerized by the girl’s amazingly cute nose.

“You’ll go out with me?” Sana gasped, turning her head to look at Dahyun. The movement was so quick she nearly collided her own head with Dahyun’s.

Dahyun smiled brightly, practically glowing, and Sana couldn’t help but giggle as the girl nodded.

“Ah, you’re all mine now,” Sana said, reaching over and pinching Dahyun’s cheek, tugging on it playfully. “You know, there’s been something I’ve been meaning to do for awhile now…”

Sana’s eyes lowered to Dahyun’s lips. 

It was Dahyun’s turn to feel flustered this time.

Her heart raced, and she could feel every pulse expanding and contrasting, her whole body was on fire. It was just a kiss, but it held so much in it’s short time span. Sana’s lips were soft and warm—Dahyun wanted to hang onto them forever. 

It felt liberating and exciting. The two girls pulled back, staring at each other shyly. Sana’s eyelids were slightly closed, and Dahyun could make out each of her long eyelashes. Sana’s right hand was tracing the muscles on Dahyun’s neck, ever so gently. 

 

Nayeon and Momo were pacing the halls, exactly as expected. Nayeon was nervous. So was Momo. The two girls figured some physical activity was the only way to tire themselves out and drown out their worry. They walked hand and hand, quickly, around every inch of the school. They both smiled and waved as they passed by any student or professor. They’d become what some might consider overnight celebrities—the whole student body looked to them with interest—the chosen few destined to take out the rogue threat and return order to their country.

They made it to the library, which was deserted as usual. They decided to pace the aisles and point out interesting book titles. About halfway down the large room, the two girls began to hear some whispers. Nayeon and Momo exchanged curious looks. Nayeon raised her eyebrows and her lips slipped into a mischievous smile. She put a single finger to her lips and pulled Momo along, sneaking closer to the sound. 

There were two distinct, hushed voices. Nayeon and Momo peered through the gaps in the bookshelves, able to view the aisle next to them where the voices were coming from. It was hard to see the faces that belonged to the voices though. After about a minute of spying, Nayeon could pick out one of the voices. It was none other than her roommate Jeongyeon. A few more seconds and a figure stepped into view. Nayeon could make out her roommate’s yellow hoodie as clear as day. 

“...and I’m not sure what she’ll do. I mean, she said she doesn’t want to kill this girl but if she doesn’t Akari might finish the mutant off instead,” Jeongyeon was saying, facing someone that was blocked from Nayeon’s view.

“It’s kind of sad, isn’t it?” It was a guy’s voice. It sounded familiar but Nayeon couldn’t quite think of who it belonged to. “This girl...she was probably manipulated by the HCA. They could’ve experimented on her, tortured her…”

“Probably,” Jeongyeon agreed.

“But not everyone can be saved, can they? Some people are just too far gone.”

A few books collapsed and Momo grimaced, she looked at Nayeon apologetically as Jeongyeon cried out on the other side of the bookshelf. Momo hadn’t meant to knock them over but...well...it happened. The books between her and Jeongyeon were on the floor, so Jeongyeon could clearly see Momo’s spying eyes on the other side. Momo immediately ducked down and Jeongyeon pressed her lips together, shaking her head. 

“I can see you, you know,” Jeongyeon mused. “Come on out. Both of you.”

“Hey, how did you know I was there too?” Nayeon whined.

“Where Momo goes, you follow.”

“Right,” Nayeon muttered. Her and Momo walked to meet Jeongyeon in the next aisle over, face to face. Nayeon was a bit surprised to see Jeongyeon was with Wonpil—another student at the school who was studying for a master’s degree. 

“Hey Wonpil,” Momo waved, looking embarrassed. 

“Hey Momo, Nayeon,” he nodded to the two girls. 

“We heard voices and got curious,” Nayeon explained before Jeongyeon could ask. 

“We were just talking about your mission,” Wonpil said, casually. 

Nayeon gave Jeongyeon a knowing look. The girl shot a look back at Nayeon that seemed to say “don’t say a word.”

“Well, we’ll leave you two alone then,” Momo replied, smiling slightly. She took Nayeon’s hand and pulled her away. 

As the two fast-walked away, they both giggled to each other. “So that’s who Jeongyeon’s been wandering off to see recently,” Nayeon observed. 

“I can’t believe we spied on them,” Momo laughed. 

“You’re a terrible spy.” Nayeon linked her arm with Momo’s. 

Momo pouted and Nayeon laughed. The two stopped walking—they were alone in the hallway. It was getting late and most people had retired to their rooms, probably playing video games and watching Netflix. 

“You’re the one who distracted me!” Momo whined. 

“Me? How?” 

Momo unlinked her arm from Nayeon and crossed them in front of her chest. “Your side profile…”

“Yes?” Nayeon leaned forward expectantly.

“It’s...pretty.”

Nayeon’s smirk broke into a full out grin. She put her hands on both of Momo’s hips, sliding her hands back until she was pressed against the other girl completely. “Really?” Nayeon asked. Their faces were very close. Momo uncrossed her arms and wrapped them around Nayeon as well. Nayeon gently pushed Momo until her back was against the wall. 

Momo looked like she wanted to say something, but she didn’t. Instead she watched Nayeon with smitten eyes. Nayeon leaned forward slowly, alternating looking between Momo’s eyes and her lips. Momo didn’t say anything so Nayeon continued leaning forward until their lips met. Nayeon’s hands traveled to the back of Momo’s neck and her chin. There was just enough force behind the kiss to make Momo moan slightly. 

“Nayeon,” Momo exhaled after a minute, with her lips still partially pressed against Nayeon’s. 

“Hm?” the older girl hummed. 

“Someone could see us.”

“So what?” Nayeon’s voice was playful. She leaned forward again and began to kiss Momo’s neck softly. 

“Ugh, fine.” The kisses continued, and Momo could start to feel her legs getting weak. 

Nayeon planted a few more kisses on Momo’s face, teasingly placing them anywhere but on the girl’s lips. After brushing up against the corner of Momo’s mouth, Nayeon pulled back and looked at Momo’s blissful expression with a smile on her face. “Alright, I think that’s enough for now.”

Momo nodded and reached for Nayeon’s hands. Their fingers intertwined perfectly. “Your hands are so big,” Momo observed as she played with her girlfriend’s fingers, brushing them against her own.

Nayeon laughed. “I have piano player’s hands, that’s what my father used to tell me, anyway.” She was silent for a moment, thinking back to the happy childhood she so often tried to forget. Knowing her parents loved her up until they found out their daughter was a mutant was still a hard pill to swallow. 

“Hey,” Momo whispered, lightly brushing a strand of Nayeon’s strawberry red hair behind the girl’s ear. “You know I’ll always be here for you, no matter what.”

Nayeon looked down at the ground and nodded.

“Let’s head back to my room, okay?”

The two girls walked back into Momo’s room to find a sleeping Sana and Dahyun tangled up on Sana’s bed. They were under the covers, snuggled up against each other. Momo and Nayeon looked at each other and giggled at Dahyun’s open-mouthed expression. When Momo and Nayeon crawled into Momo’s bed, the two other girls didn’t even stir. Momo reached up and flicked off the light switch and the room was covered in darkness.

 

Mina couldn’t sleep. She was laying in darkness, staring up at the ceiling of her small bedroom. Even playing some of her favorite songs on the iPod JYP had given her when she’d first arrived at the school hadn’t helped. She figured he’d given it to her to provide her with some sense of normalcy. Most girls her age would have their favorite music at their fingertips, so why shouldn’t she? Mina’d been without music for two years and before then she didn’t realize how absolutely essential it was in her life. 

That’s why she listened to it every night before she went to bed—an assortment of top hits JYP had put on there. Chaeyoung had even showed Mina how to (illegally) download more music so she could put any song she wanted on it. It was mostly filled with slow ballads and songs from the early 2000s that reminded her of her childhood. Boy, things were simpler then.

Truthfully, the reason she couldn’t sleep was because the pressure of their looming big mission was eating away at her. What Chaeyoung had said earlier had helped—all of her friends would be by her side the entire time—but she was still worried something would happen resulting in another injury or even death. She knew Akari and Nayeon wanted her to kill this rogue mutant...but how could she do it when this girl looked just like Tzuyu? She might have killed someone once, accidentally, but she could barely squash a bug, let alone force the life out of someone willfully.

Ping~ a message notification popped up on Mina’s iPod. Recently Chaeyoung had downloaded a messaging app on Mina’s iPod as well, to at least use until she could get an actual cell phone. 

Mina looked down at her screen while squinting her eyes at the bright light. 

Chaeyoung: Can’t sleep...are you awake? 

Mina smiled to herself, finding comfort that she wasn’t the only one still worried about their mission.

Mina: Yeah, I can’t sleep either. Wanna come over?~

After a few minutes, there was a knock on the door. Mina wandered through the darkness and searched for the light switch with her hands. She opened the door and there was Chaeyoung in her pajamas. Mina had a strong feeling of deja-vu, thinking back to the first time she’d opened the door at night to find Chaeyoung outside, wearing her pajamas. Mina remembered that night clearly—it was the night she felt like she might actually feel at home at JYP’s school. And there was the kiss with Chaeyoung, of course. The accidental one. Just thinking about it made Mina wanna fan herself. 

“What are you smiling about?” Chaeyoung asked with a smile on her face as Mina stepped aside and let Chaeyoung in. 

“It’s nothing. I was just remembering the last time I saw you in your pajamas.”

“Oh, right,” Chaeyoung’s smile grew. She nervously fidgeted with her glasses and after a moment sat down on Mina’s bed. 

Mina sat down beside Chaeyoung but scooted over so that her legs were on either side of Chaeyoung and the younger girl could lean back against her. “What if something goes wrong when the next attack happens?” Mina asked suddenly. “What if someone gets hurt or worse…”

“We always have Miss Suzy,” Chaeyoung replied thoughtfully. “And I guess that’s a risk we have to take, you know? No one else can stop this girl but us.”

“I just don’t want anything to happen to someone else because of me,” Mina murmured. “If anything happened to you I don’t know what I’d do…”

Chaeyoung reached behind herself absentmindedly and Mina grabbed both of the girl’s hands. “I’ll be okay. I’m pretty tough, you know.” Chaeyoung released one of Mina’s hands and flexed her bicep—Mina couldn’t help but laugh. “Worrying will do you no good at this point. Your best bet is praying for the best and making sure you’re mentally prepared to take this girl on.” 

Mina nodded, even though Chaeyoung was facing away from her and couldn’t see her. She leaned her head into the back of Chaeyoung’s neck and took in the girl’s fresh scent—the shorter girl must’ve just taken a shower recently, as was evidenced by her slightly damp hair. 

“Can we just stay here forever?” Mina asked softly, closing her eyes. There was almost a pleading tone to her words. Chaeyoung’s heart felt heavy in her chest. 

“I wish,” Chaeyoung replied. The feeling of Mina’s soft and warm breath against her neck sent shivers down her spine. “I’d want nothing more than to cuddle with you for the rest of eternity.” 

Even though Chaeyoung couldn’t see Mina’s face, she could tell Mina was smiling.

“I don’t want to kill her, Chaeyoung.”

Chaeyoung swallowed hard. She leaned her head back against Mina’s shoulder. “Then don’t.”

“But if I don’t, then Akari will.”

Chaeyoung was quiet. She didn’t quite know what to say. Mina was right, Akari would surely kill this girl. “You can’t save everyone.”

“I have to try,” Mina whispered. 

Chaeyoung scooted forward and twisted around so she could see Mina’s face. “Don’t do anything stupid, okay?”

Mina pursed her lips together and looked at her wall, which was completely devoid of any decoration. “I won’t.” She leaned forward and kissed Chaeyoung’s nose.

Chaeyoung knew she couldn’t tell Mina not to do anything—the girl would do what she wanted and no one could stop her. Chaeyoung could only hope that Akari took action before Mina ended up getting hurt. She’d never tell Mina, but she actually agreed with Akari and Nayeon. This rogue mutant girl was too dangerous to keep around. 

 

It was after midnight and Akari was awake—thinking and calculating. Akari knew what she had to do. She had to kill this girl before Mina had the chance to do anything stupid while trying to save her. Akari refused to lose Mina that way—trying to save some girl that didn’t deserve to be saved. 

Did she herself deserve to be saved though? Probably not, and yet here she was, offered a second chance. At least she didn’t kill total innocents like this rogue mutant had. She killed government employees, both Japanese and Korean, depending on her mission. Some HCA members too. And okay, she had stabbed Sana. Akari did regret that very much, considering how much she liked Sana now. And she had nearly frozen Momo to death...but Momo was fine now too. That didn’t make her a monster, did it? 

Akari hadn’t always been this way. She had been a kid once, complaining about high school as if taking classes was pure torture. Now she new what real torture felt like, and she wished so badly to return to her childhood days—to rewind time so that she would never be taken by the Japanese government in the first place and turned into their walking weapon. She yearned for those lost years they took from her—she’d never even gotten to graduate, after all. 

Akari thought of the person she used to be and wondered what this person would think of who she was now. With a slight smile on her face, Akari thought that Mina would’ve liked the person she used to be very much. Akari clenched and unclenched her fists, staring up at her ceiling and waiting for sleepiness to take her. As she drifted off, she thought of her and Mina meeting in another life where superpowers didn’t exist. 

 

The alert came in the afternoon—an inconvenient time when a lot of people would be out and about in the city. The Tzuyu look-alike came strolling out onto the street, eying the world around her as if it were a blank canvas and she were an artist with an epiphany. Immediately she picked up a few cars and tossed them aside like rag dolls, laughing as she did so. People began to run in terror and call the police.

Jihyo was the first one to receive an alert, thanks to notifications set up in her phone. She jumped up for her bed and yelled at Jeongyeon to get suited up. After putting on her own suit, she dialed Nayeon’s number. Luckily the girls in Sana and Momo’s room had received the news too and were already working on slipping into their coordinated outfits. Nayeon called Chaeyoung, who immediately ran to get Mina and Akari. The girls changed with lightning speed and met outside in the hallway. 

“Wow, we look…” Sana began, surveying her friends, all wearing their matching outfits.

“...like superheroes!” Dahyun cried out, striking an action pose. 

“We need to get there, now,” Jihyo replied with a straight face. She took Nayeon’s arm and began pulling her toward the front of the school. The rest of the girls followed suit. Nayeon would be driving a van in which they all squeezed into, headed straight toward the location the rogue mutant was terrorizing. 

The guards seemed to be awaiting their arrival. They stepped aside as the girls passed and wished them luck. Wonpil happened to be on guard duty. He exchanged a glance with Jeongyeon—what was it, nervousness, fear?—before they both nodded at each other and Jeongyeon disappeared inside the school van. Nayeon started the car and drove out of the garage quickly, flooring it. 

Jihyo had input the location of the attack in her phone’s GPS and guided Nayeon there. There was heavy traffic headed away from the direction they were going in—it seemed everyone was scared of this rogue mutant, and they had every right to be. “Let’s park a block away and try our best to take her out stealthily,” Akari suggested. Nayeon found a spot along the street and shut off the van. The girls piled out, already hearing screams and the sound of crushing metal. 

“Showtime,” Jeongyeon breathed out, stealing a nervous breath. 

“Alright, Dahyun, Sana, Chaeng, Momo and Akari, you distract her. Jeong and Nayeon, stay back but be ready to help at any moment. Mina, stay with them until you have a clearing and then get close enough to her to do your thing.” Jihyo had her hands on her hips, looking determined. If they could stop this girl then Tzuyu could be released, and she wanted nothing more than that right now. 

The offensive team moved out, ready to begin taking on the rogue mutant head on. “Don’t die, okay?” Nayeon called out. The girls turned around and nodded.

Mina crossed her arms as she watched in anticipation, sending out a silent prayer that everyone would be safe. She moved slowly behind the offensive team along with Jihyo, Nayeon and Jeongyeon. 

“Remember, she can make your brain fry in a few seconds. We’re gonna have to make sure she can’t focus on just one of us,” Akari whispered. 

As they walked into the street, they saw a glimpse of the rogue mutant. She was walking through the middle of the street, arms at her sides, and everything around her was chaos. Cars were thrown on their sides and flipped over, crushed. Some of the cars had people in them, and the seriousness of their injuries were unclear. Street lights were on the ground. Shards of broken glass littered the pavement. There was also a trail of snow and ice falling from the girl’s fingertips. Bodies of people unlucky enough to get too close to her were frozen solid. 

People inside the buildings nearby stood by windows, peering out. They were trapped in their buildings, too afraid to leave. The police were forming a blockade of the street, not allowing anyone to get near this girl who was destroying everything. However, it appeared they were too scared to get any closer to the mutant. They’d fired a few shots at her but she’d dodged them all effortlessly. 

“I’ll try to throw some punches, cover me!” Akari said. She began running forward before she disappeared, jumping through space until she landed directly behind the rogue mutant. She jabbed the mutant in the back of the head with a thud. The girl staggered forward, but caught herself before she fell to the ground. 

Before the rogue mutant could spin around and face Akari, Momo ran directly in front of the girl. “Hey, over here!” Momo taunted, sticking her tongue out at the girl before she began to run away in circles and erratic patterns—she was a blur. 

Chaeyoung lifted her arm and one of the fallen street lights levitated into the air. She pushed her hand forward and the light hurled itself directly in the rogue mutant’s direction. Akari landed a kick before the girl narrowly avoided the street light using her super speed—she was now looking directly at Chaeyoung with an icy glare.

Chaeyoung’s breath caught in her throat as she saw how much this girl really looked like Tzuyu. She was a dead-ringer for her friend. But she’s not her, Chaeyoung reminded herself.

“You came, just like they said you would,” the girl said in a voice that sounded eerily like Tzuyu’s. “But where are the rest of you?”

Sana disappeared, turning invisible, she slowly made her way closer to the girl. Meanwhile, Dahyun closed her eyes and concentrated on duplicating herself—she was trying to make as many copies as possible to better distract the rogue mutant. 

“Remember me?” Akari said, letting her arm wind up for another punch. As she shot her fist forward, the girl spun around and caught Akari’s hand with lightning speed, blocking Akari’s punch.

“You’re the one I almost killed. You won’t be so lucky this time.” 

Akari’s eyes widened as she struggled to free her fist from the girl’s grasp, but the girl was much too strong. Akari began to cry out when it felt like the bones in her hand were about to snap as the Tzuyu look-alike squeezed harder and harder with her super strength. 

“Hi-yah!” Sana cried out as she kicked the back of the girl’s knees, causing the girl to buckle and release Akari’s hand. 

The rogue mutant’s head snapped back in Sana’s direction but she saw nothing, as Sana managed to remain invisible. 

A chorus of “heys” rang out as the Dahyun copies began to run around the scene. “Over here!” they all taunted. Some of them ran around while others attempted to rescue any people trapped in cars or frozen with ice.

Akari saw her chance and extended her hand, holding it out near the girl’s head—she tried to make the pressure inside the girl’s head increase using her willpower. 

The girl clenched her fists and let out a piercing scream as her head was about to pop. 

Akari’s nose scrunched up in concentration as she increased the power of her attack. The girl began to sink to her knees with her hands on her head. From a distance, the defensive team cheered. Would this be much easier than they thought? They hadn’t even had to use their powers yet.

But then the girl’s closed eyes shot open, and she stopped screaming. She stood up, looking at Akari blankly. Akari grunted as she attempted to blow the girl’s brains out but it was as if her powers were being blocked. 

Chaeyoung lifted her hands again, this time sending a car flying in the direction of the mutant and Akari. Momo acted fast, grabbing Akari and speeding out of the car’s path. The rogue mutant was quick too, dodging the car at the last second. The car landed with a crash, echoing down the street and cracking the pavement beneath it. 

“Watch where you throw things, Chaeng!” Akari cursed out, glaring at Chaeyoung.

“Sorry,” she called back. “I knew Momo would save you.”

“Enough chit-chat,” the rogue mutant growled. Her fingers began to curl as frost began to spread out from the ground beneath her feet. In an instant, a flurry of ice shot out from around her. Momo and Akari braced themselves for the onslaught, but Sana, closest to the rogue mutant, was hit hard by the wave of ice. She flickered into view and collapsed, covered in snow. 

In less than a second, Momo was at Sana’s side, dusting the snow off the girl. The rogue mutant laughed as she looked down at the two girls. Nayeon got ready to use her neuralizer to bring everyone back a few moments and warn Sana about the impending freeze attack. It appeared Sana was okay though, so Nayeon held off. 

A pack of the Dahyun copies pummeled the Tzuyu look-alike, throwing punches and kicks. “Leave my girlfriend alone!” some of them cried. 

The rogue mutant grunted but quickly screamed out and all of the copies around her collapsed, cradling their heads in their hands. It seemed she was about to get into the heads of multiple people at once, whereas Akari with the same power could only cause one person pain at a time.

Akari was on her feet now, running at the girl. She teleported briefly, timing it so that she would land a jump kick—but just as she teleported so did the rogue mutant. Akari nearly landed on her face, tucking her chin so that she somersaulted when she hit the ground. 

“Where’d she go?” Chaeyoung cried out, scanning the era. “Did she retreat?”

“I wouldn’t count on that,” Akari replied, trying her best to spot the girl too. 

Momo and some Dahyun copies helped Sana onto her feet. Other than being wet and cold from the ice and snow, Sana was fine, luckily. 

The girls heard some shouting coming from a side street. Momo took off toward the screaming and Akari was right behind her. 

It was Jihyo, Nayeon, Mina and Jeongyeon—the rogue mutant had found them somehow. She had teleported directly behind Nayeon, throwing the girl aside before she could get so much as one pen click in—all thanks to the mutant’s super speed and strength. Nayeon’s head hit the pavement and her pen scattered to the ground, feet away from her. The Tzuyu look-alike took out Jeongyeon next, focusing on stopping the girl from freezing time. She had been told by her creators that Nayeon and Jeongyeon were the ones to take out first, for they would make things quite difficult. 

By the time Momo got there, Nayeon was on the ground, seemingly thrown aside like a rag doll. Jeongyeon and Jihyo were on their knees, screaming as the mutant made their insides feel like they were on fire. 

Mina was the only one left standing—staring the mutant down and gritting her teeth. It seemed her and the rogue mutant were at a stand still as they each tried to use their powers on the other.

Momo ran to Nayeon’s side, picking up her girlfriend’s limp body in her arms. “Nayeon?” she asked, brushing strands of hair out of her girlfriend’s face. “Hey!” The girl was clearly still alive, but was knocked unconscious. Momo let out a sigh of relief as soon as she could feel Nayeon’s steady breathing against the fingers she held just below the older girl’s nose. 

“What’s your name?” Mina asked, looking the Tzuyu look-alike directly in the eye. It was clear the girl was struggling, but could not break from Mina’s control. She was rooted to the ground where she stood.

“Name?” the girl asked, as if Mina had asked her exactly how many stars there were in the night sky.

“You do have one, don’t you?”

The girl looked at Mina dangerously, through narrowed eyes. “N-no. I just have a purpose...a mission. That is what defines me.”

“This mission...is it to make people fear us?” 

“Filthy mutants,” the girl spit out, avoiding the question. “Monstrosities that must be exterminated.”

“You’re a mutant, too.”

The girl shook her head. “I’m not one of you.”

“You are—and you can stop this now. We want to help you.” Mina reached out her hand toward the girl. She knew what Akari had said earlier, about needing to put this girl down, but Mina still held onto the hope that she could be saved. If only Mina could overpower her...but the girl was beginning to make Mina’s head pound unpleasantly. 

The Tzuyu look-alike began to hit the side of her own head, as if quieting her thoughts. “No, no, no. It’s you that needs help.” Her breaths began to become labored, it was clear she was trying extremely hard to break free from Mina’s hypnosis. 

Mina took a step toward her opponent. She could feel her own energy draining as she tried to keep her hold on the girl. The girl was resisting the hypnosis, nearly successfully. “You remind me of someone I care about very much,” Mina said, softly. Her eyes were large and looked sad. “She was manipulated by bad people, just like you. Even though she did some very bad things, I forgave her.”

Off to the side, Akari was watching the events unfolding before her closely. She could feel her breath catch in her throat once she realized Mina was talking about her. She wanted to step in, but also didn’t want their opponent to snap—Mina and the other girls nearby could easily be killed. Jihyo and Jeongyeon were still at the mercy of the rogue mutant’s powers after all. Make the girl made and their brains could explode...literally.

“I forgave her because I’ve done bad things too,” Mina continued, while taking another step forward. She was attempting to bridge the distance between her and the rogue mutant. “When I first got my powers, I accidentally killed my best friend.” Mina’s voice was shaky, and her eyes were starting to glisten, but she held her chin high. “And when someone needed me the most, I abandoned her. I left her behind.”

Chaeyoung, Sana and Dahyun made it to where the showdown was happening. Chaeyoung nearly ran forward but Akari put a hand on her shoulder and tugged her back. The short haired girl dug her nails into the palms of her hands, staring at Mina intensely. It was up to Mina now. 

“So you must understand, it’s never too late to do what’s right. We all do bad things, that’s what makes us human. But admitting these mistakes and trying to be better, that’s what makes us good. It’s not easy, but it’s possible when you accept that you deserve to be forgiven. No one is perfect, not by a long shot.”

The girl looked at Mina, perhaps a bit taken back. She looked like a robot that had short-circuited—certainly not expecting to hear these words from someone who was supposed to be her enemy. 

Mina took another step forward. They were only feet apart now. Up close, Mina could see every detail of the girl’s face, identical to Tzuyu’s. “There’s a place for you in this world,” Mina promised. “It’s not with those people who are making you do this.”

“They didn’t make me do anything,” the girl growled. She tried to move her feet but they were still rooted in place due to Mina’s will. “They created me for a single purpose, and I am fulfilling it. Without them, I am nothing.”

“You were someone before all this,” Jihyo called out, despite the pain in her head making it feel like she was going to explode. “I can see it in you. Your thoughts and memories, hidden deep down inside. You had a life, and they took that away. They turned you into this.”

“I can’t...remember,” the girl replied, hitting the side of her head again. “There’s too much noise.”

Mina turned back to look at Jihyo. The older girl gave her an encouraging nod. “Just sleep for now...the noise will go away,” Mina said.

The girl’s eyes began to droop, but she gritted her teeth. She shook her head and growled, shaking the sleepiness away. “GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” she screamed. 

She threw her arms forward, with the end of her palms pressed together, aimed directly at Mina. Akari recognized that technique immediately—she’d done it many times in the field. Without thinking, Akari leapt forward and jumped through space—

—appearing directly in front of Mina almost instantaneously.

There was a sharp intake of breath and the sound of ripping flesh.

Mina flinched back in surprise at Akari suddenly teleporting in front of her. Akari was standing between her and the rogue mutant. Taking in Akari’s broad shoulders, which were tensed up, Mina’s eyes lowered until she noticed the large ice shard poking out through Akari’s back.

It took Mina’s brain a moment to process what had happened before she let out a scream. Akari dropped like dead weight, face down on the pavement. The rogue mutant began to extend her hand in Mina’s direction, forming another ice shard, but Mina was faster, letting out another blood-curdling scream as she stopped the girl’s body from moving any further using her hypnosis. 

There was resistance from both sides. The rogue mutant fought against Mina’s paralyzing hypnosis as Mina fought the urge to pass out from pain as her brain felt like it was catching fire. 

Mina could hear Chaeyoung, Dahyun and Sana yelling. She looked down at Akari’s still body at her feet. Mina’s eyes began to roll back into her head and her mind felt cloudy, but she held on. 

Another scream—this time from Chaeyoung. Using her telekinesis, a gun was ripped out of a cop's hands all the way from behind the barrier where the policer officers stood, watching. He yelled as the thing soared directly into Chaeyoung’s hands with lightning speed. With trembling fingers, she lined up the sight, squinted one eye, and fired. 

The bullet kicked the rogue mutant back. She crashed onto the pavement with a thud. Mina’s brain no longer felt like it was turning to mush. She lifted a hand and the thrashing girl on the ground stopped struggling—she was surely dead. Chaeyoung had shot her directly in the chest and Mina had ensured the girl wouldn’t wake up.

Chaeyoung ran to Mina, just barely holding her up before the girl stumbled. Trying to hypnotize the girl that looked like Tzuyu had nearly taken everything out of her. But Mina wasn’t worried about herself. Mina ripped herself from Chaeyoung’s grasp and collapsed onto all fours on the ground beside Akari, who hadn’t moved. 

“Akari,” Mina tried to say, but her mouth and lips felt numb, so it sounded more like gibberish. Mina gently rolled Akari onto her side. Mina saw the girl’s eyes were closed.

An inhuman sound escaped Mina’s throat as she shook her friend carefully. “Akari?”

There was nothing.

Tears began to spill down Mina’s cheeks. “Akari...take my shapeshifting….I never wanted it in the first place, take it!” Mina cried. “Take it back! It’ll heal you! Take my energy!” 

Stillness. 

“Please…” Mina buried her head into Akari’s chest, feeling herself shake as sobs erupted through her body. 

“Hands on your head!” 

Mina felt hands on her back. It was Chaeyoung, forcing her girlfriend to stand as the cops who had formed a barrier around the fight finally came forward, surrounding them. 

“She needs a doctor,” Mina cried, motioning to Akari, laying on her side on the pavement. “She needs to get to a hospital!”

“I said hands on your head!” the officer shouted, aggressively pointing his gun directly at Mina. Mina let out a sob but did as she was told. 

“We just saved you all!” Sana screamed out angrily. “Why are you arresting us?”

“You’re all coming to the station,” a cop shouted. “Do not resist us.”

“My friends, they need help!” Momo cried out, nearly in tears. She was still holding Nayeon in her arms. “We need to get them back to our school nurse—“

“Let’s go, all of you, move!”

“Momo, you need to run Akari back to Suzy—” Mina began to say, but a cop instantly shushed her. His gun was still pointed at Mina dangerously. 

Mina looked at the cop squarely, beginning to wave her hand by her side—instantly Jihyo knew what she was about to do. “Mina, you can’t. There are people watching...everywhere.” Jihyo was right, a crowd had formed around the girls, and people had come out from their buildings to get a look at what happened. Mina couldn’t hypnotize the cops, not when it’d only make mutants look worse in the public eye.

“But Akari...” Mina sobbed, tears streaming down her face. Chaeyoung held onto Mina tightly.

“Just do as you’re told,” Jeongyeon whispered. Her and Jihyo had risen back on their feet. “We can’t fight them.”

And so the girls were escorted into multiple cop cars. Mina took one last look at Akari, who was now covered in blood that was spilling from her sternum—still laying in the same position she had left her. Medics were coming, attending to both Nayeon and Akari, as well as the innocent people the rogue mutant had hurt. Mina was clinging to Chaeyoung and shaking with every step. 

“I didn’t want to kill her,” Chaeyoung said, rather numbly as a cop guided her into the backseat of the police cruiser. She looked at Mina, who looked nearly as dead inside as Chaeyoung felt. “But she...she was gonna kill you.” 

“You saved my life,” Mina whispered—eyes looking glassy and far-away. “You both did.”


	17. Afterglow

After a few hours of interrogation, the girls were released from the police station without any charges pressed against them. 

The questions had been pretty simple, really. Questions about their powers, the nature of their training at JYP’s school, and their intentions for taking on the rogue mutant—Tzuyu’s look-alike. JYP had hired a lawyer, who got the girls out as quickly as he could. 

“Tzuyu...Chou Tzuyu, is she here?” Jihyo asked one of the cops who was escorting her back to the front of the station after her questioning was over. “She’s another student at JYP’s school…”

“She’s at another station downtown,” the cop answered. “She’ll be there for a few more hours probably, while they finish clearing things up.” 

Jihyo sighed with relief, but her heart still felt heavy. The status of both Nayeon and Akari was still unknown. Nayeon appeared to be fine, but Akari hadn’t looked so good…

When she got back to the front of the station, Jihyo found that everyone else was there besides Chaeyoung. Since Jihyo’s short friend had fired the fatal shot against the rogue mutant, taking a gun from an officer to do so, it seemed she was being given the hardest time during questioning.

Mina was sitting down in a chair in the lobby, looking absolutely miserable. Her face was swollen and puffy and she looked about ten years older than she actually was. Sana was beside her, holding her hand tightly. 

“Are you okay?” Momo asked Jihyo when she sat down next to the older girl. 

“As fine as any of us can be. There’s no word on Nayeon or Akari, right?”

Momo shook her head sadly. Jihyo could see it was clear that Momo had been crying too. “They were both taken to a hospital. We don’t even know which one…”

“Nayeon’s gonna be okay,” Jihyo whispered. “She had a concussion, probably nothing more.”

Momo nodded numbly without a word. All she could think about was Nayeon’s pale face with her eyes closed, laying on the pavement...

About a half an hour later, a cop escorted Chaeyoung back to the front, and Mina’s eyes lit up with with relief after seeing her girlfriend was finally released.

“It seems you girls did us all a great service. That mutant would’ve surely killed many other innocent people if it weren’t for you,” the cop said. It felt nice to hear some praise—Sana wasn’t too sure that everyone felt the same way as this man. 

“She’s dead, right?” Dahyun asked him. He nodded.

“It seems you have a ride home,” the cop pointed in the direction of Wonpil, who had walked into the police station at that moment. Jeongyeon immediately stood up and ran to him. They hugged each other and whispered things that Momo couldn’t quite make out from where she was sitting. 

“Our friends, the ones taken to the hospital, can you tell us how they’re doing?” Mina asked the nice cop as everyone stood up to leave. 

“I’m afraid I can’t say.” He looked down at Mina apologetically. “Your professors have been notified of the hospital both of your friends have been brought to though. I’m sure they will know more than me.”

Mina nodded and thanked him.

“Alright everyone, let’s go home,” Wonpil said. He twirled the keys for the school’s van in his fingers. The girls wordlessly followed Wonpil outside, climbing into van quietly. 

 

 

Arriving back at the school, the girls were immediately swarmed by the entire student body, who applauded and cheered. Miss Suzy pushed through the crowd, walking up to greet the heroes. “You did it!” she told them, with a small smile on her face. 

The girls wanted to celebrate but they were still drained from the battle. Perhaps if Nayeon and Akari were there with them they’d be a bit more in the celebrating mood.

“I went to the hospital to take care of Nayeon and Akari,” Suzy said. Immediately every one of the girls’ eyes lit up. “And—”

“Momo!” a voice cried from somewhere in the crowd of curious students. 

Momo’s eyes desperately searched for the source of the cry—a voice she knew anywhere. Suddenly Nayeon was pushing through the crowd, and students cleared a pathway for her. Momo didn’t even let Nayeon run to her, instead she used her super speed and was by Nayeon’s side in an instant, wrapping the girl into the tightest, warmest hug imaginable. The two girls held onto each other, crying. The crowd of students surrounding the two girls embracing applauded. Dahyun and Sana joined in on the cheers as well. 

Through her tears, Nayeon began to laugh. “Did you miss me?” she whispered in Momo’s ear.

“Don’t you ever do that again, Im Nayeon,” Momo replied in the most serious tone Nayeon had ever heard from her. 

“I just hit my head, I’m okay now.” Nayeon and Momo’s foreheads touched as they continued to hold each other. 

“Thank god,” Momo whispered.

The rest of their friends all sighed with relief at the sight of Nayeon looking happy and healthy—a stark contrast to the unconscious girl they’d seen on the ground only hours earlier.

“What about Akari?” Mina asked nervously. She was scared to ask, but needed to know. Suzy took a breath and took Minal’s arm, pulling her aside. Mina’s legs felt like jelly as Suzy pulled her aside. Luckily Chaeyoung was there to steady her, holding onto Mina when she felt as though she would collapse. 

“When I got to the hospital, Akari was gone.”

Mina choked out a sob and threw herself into Chaeyoung, who wrapped her arms around her shaking girlfriend. 

“Not dead,” Suzy reiterated, “gone.”

Mina lifted her head from where it was pressed against Chaeyoung’s shoulder and sniffled, looking at Miss Suzy blankly. “Gone?”

“She wasn’t in her room. No one had seen her leave, but she must’ve gotten out somehow.”

“So...she’s alive?” Mina said, voice barely above a whisper.

“She must be,” Suzy confirmed. 

Mina shared a look with Chaeyoung. She took a breath and closed her eyes, thinking of Akari with all of her heart. She opened her eyes slowly. “Do I still look like myself?” she asked.

“You do,” Chaeyoung confirmed, putting her hand on Mina’s shoulder.

“My shapeshifting ability...it’s gone, which means...which means…”

“Akari ended up taking it back from you. She’s okay!” Chaeyoung pulled Mina into a hug and Mina hugged her back tightly. Tears continued to slide down Mina’s face uncontrollably. 

After a minute, the two girls pulled apart and Chaeyoung wiped a tear off of Mina’s cheek. “Where is she then?” Mina wondered out loud. “Where would she have gone? Shouldn’t she have come right back here?” Mina’s voice began to rise in pitch as she grew more and more worried. Chaeyoung could feel the older girl trembling slightly as Mina leaned into her.

Suzy pressed her lips together and shook her head. “We were hoping you would know that. The hospital staff had no idea…she wasn’t captured on any security footage.”

Mina took a breath, staring at the floor. “She must’ve teleported out.”

“I’m sure she’ll turn up soon,” Chaeyoung assured. “She might’ve just needed some time to herself.”

“Maybe,” Mina whispered. “The HCA...they don’t have her, do they? They couldn’t possibly…”

“I don’t think so, since their ultimate plan ended up failing. It’s true they made people fear mutants but you all showed the world that not all mutants are the same. You showed the world that mutants are willing to sacrifice everything to keep people safe. The entire city of Seoul should be thankful to you,” Suzy replied. 

Mina nodded. She still felt slightly numb and her skin felt uncomfortably prickly. Her stomach felt like it was about to empty its contents even though she hadn’t eaten anything since this morning. 

“How about we get changed and get some rest?” Chaeyoung suggested. She took Mina’s hand and began to guide the taller girl back toward the dorm rooms. The crowd of cheerful students and professors had begun to disperse, but Chaeyoung’s friends had all remained, waiting for Mina and Chaeyoung.

“What happened to Akari?” Dahyun asked softly, rushing to catch up to the two girls. Sana was by her side, with their hands entwined. 

Nayeon had already briefed the girls on what Suzy had told her on their way back from the hospital, but Dahyun had wanted to hear it from Mina herself. 

“She disappeared. But she’s alive, or at least we think she is,” Mina explained.

“That’s great news!” Sana cheered. 

“I just hope Tzuyu will be home soon,” Jihyo sighed. 

Jeongyeon put an arm around Jihyo’s shoulder. “She will be, safe and sound. We somehow all made it out of that battle alive, we’re lucky.”

“We really are,” Nayeon agreed. Her and Momo were close behind the rest of the group, holding hands as well.

“I think I’m gonna sleep for about 5 years now,” Jeongyeon said. “And I mean it, I’ll freeze time for five years so I can get some decent rest for once.”

Everyone laughed, and then fell into a comfortable silence. It was really over, at least for now. They could go back to their semi-normal lives, worry about classes and their blooming relationships. 

 

 

Tzuyu arrived back at the school a few hours later. She was exhausted from endless questions and tests but she was finally home. Even though the thought of collapsing on her bed was enticing, she stopped at another particular dorm room first. Taking a breath—why was she suddenly nervous?—she knocked on Jihyo’s door. 

Luckily the older girl herself was the one who answered it, practically leaping into Tzuyu the moment the door was opened. “Are you okay? What did they do to you? You weren’t charged with anything, were you?” Jihyo began to bombard Tzuyu with questions as she hugged her and Tzuyu couldn’t help but laugh. Jihyo pulled back and beamed when she saw Tzuyu smiling down at her. 

Jihyo was alone in the room—Nayeon was out with Momo doing god-knows-what and Jeongyeon was presumably with Wonpil somewhere (“Wonpil, really?” Nayeon had asked her younger friend when it was just the three roommates in their shared room. “Bi and proud,” Jeongyeon had stuck out her tongue at Nayeon as she got up to leave the room. “See y’all lesbians later”). 

“Yes, I’m okay,” Tzuyu stated simply.

“Did they perform any tests on you?” Jihyo asked, pulling Tzuyu with her toward her bed, where they both sat down. 

Tzuyu nodded but didn’t say anything. 

“My poor girl,” Jihyo murmured, taking her thumb and lightly tracing it across Tzuyu’s cheekbone. The gentle touch made Tzuyu shiver unconsciously. “All that matters is that you’re okay now.”

“It’s thanks to you and everyone else that I’m free. The police were really convinced it was me who caused all that trouble. Their eyes practically popped out of their heads when they saw the rogue mutant on TV while I was sitting in their interrogation room.”

“She’d dead,” Jihyo said. “Chaeyoung killed that girl.”

Tzuyu remained silent, biting her lip. Her eyes glistened and it looked like she was holding back tears. “Is it terrible to say I’m glad she’s gone?”

Jihyo took one of Tzuyu’s hands and intertwined her fingers with Tzuyu’s slender ones. “No, of course not. She was dangerous...she killed people. We tried to help her, we tried to give her a chance to surrender, but she didn’t take it.”

Tzuyu took a shaky breath. “Jihyo, I decided something while I was at the station...when they were doing all those tests on me.” Looking at Jihyo with a deadpan expression, Tzuyu forced herself to continue. “I don’t want to try to get my powers back.”

Jihyo’s eyes widened as she stared at Tzuyu in shock. “Really?”

Tzuyu swallowed and nodded. She turned away from Jihyo, staring at the carpet. “I’ll miss my super strength for sure...but I don’t need it. I am who I am. And besides, I wouldn’t wanna risk everything for a small chance I could get my powers back. I didn’t think I had much to lose, but I realize now I was wrong.” Tzuyu looked up from the carpet and stared at Jihyo intently. That was one thing about Tzuyu that Jihyo loved—the girl’s expression was often pretty blank but when she really cared it was as plain as day on her face. 

“I was scared for you, as soon as I saw footage on the news of you guys taking that girl on. I don’t wanna lose you, ever,” Tzuyu continued. “I want to be there for you...with you.”

Jihyo let out a little squeak, taken off guard by Tzuyu’s confession. The girl often had a hard time expressing her feelings and stayed away from anything too sentimental, but it seemed she really wanted Jihyo to know all this. “I couldn’t lose you either, Tzuyu. And besides, you know I’ll love you no matter what, right?” Jihyo squeezed Tzuyu’s hand and Tzuyu squeezed back, putting on a small smile. “God, Tzuyu, you’re the bravest person I’ve ever known.”

Jihyo leaned into Tzuyu, wrapping her arms around the taller girl. The two of them laid down on Jihyo’s bed, side by side, cuddling in silence. After a few moments, Jihyo heard a sniffle from Tzuyu. Jihyo turned her head to look at Tzuyu’s face. The girl was closing her eyes and Jihyo pulled Tzuyu even closer. Jihyo began to sniffle as well. Tzuyu let her tears flow freely then—crying for all she’d been through recently, losing her powers, but now finally accepting that the person she was now was enough. For the first time in a long time, she finally felt whole.

 

 

“Stay still, will you?” Chaeyoung commanded. Momo opened her mouth to protest but quickly shut it after getting a warning glare from her younger friend. Nayeon and Momo were going out, and Momo had wanted to impress her girlfriend and go all out since she didn’t have to wear her school uniform. Nayeon had said they were going to a market, a kind of craft festival where there’d be food and jewelry and hand-crafted decorations. It was nowhere fancy, but that didn’t mean Momo couldn’t dress up. 

She’d recruited her younger friend, that had mastered the art of makeup after watching way too many youtube tutorials, to help “doll” her up.

“Keep your eyes open!” Chaeyoung exclaimed, trying to draw with a liquid eyeliner pen on the top of Momo’s eyelid. 

“I’m trying!” Momo whined, “But you’re sticking something right next to my eye, it’s hard!”

Chaeyoung sighed and continued to try her best, eventually getting a decent looking wing on both of Momo’s eyes. “Now I’ll put some mascara on you, we’ll finish off with lipstick, and you’ll be good to go.”

“Alright,” Momo said cheerfully, excited to see her reflection after all this. She rarely wore any makeup on school grounds like Nayeon did, which is why Chaeyoung had offered to use a lot of her own on Momo.

Momo was quite grateful that her younger friend was helping. She stared at the Chaeyoung’s face, that looked adorable when it was scrunched in concentration, and smiled to herself. 

Chaeyoung rubbed on a shade of light pink lipstick on Momo’s lips and let out a satisfied exhale. “Perfect!” Chaeyoung grabbed Momo’s shoulders and turned the girl around so she could see her reflection in the mirror. Momo blinked a couple times, taking a moment to take in the makeup painting her face, which really did look beautiful. For once, Momo began to feel slightly more confident. 

“Nayeon’s gonna love it,” Chaeyoung sang, giving Momo’s reflection a goofy grin. “Her jaw is gonna practically hit the floor when she sees you!”

“You think?”

“I mean, it already does on a daily basis so I think it’s safe to say she’s gonna be wowed.” 

Momo was shining so brightly that Chaeyoung couldn’t help but giggle. “Okay, we’re leaving in twenty minutes, so I gotta get ready too. We’re still meeting in the hallway, right?”

Momo checked her phone and looked down at the text Nayeon had sent her with a kissy face emoji. “Yup, see you soon.”

Nayeon had planned a day out for her and Momo, but figured it’d be nice of her to take some of her friends along as well. There was a craft festival nearby, and Nayeon figured it’d be cool to walk around there. She’d extended an invitation to Mina and Chaeyoung, figuring Mina especially needed to get her mind off things and get off the school ground’s more often. “It doesn’t have to be a double date,” Nayeon had told Chaeyoung, “but once we get out there we can each go our separate ways and meet up again when we’re ready to leave!”

Chaeyoung had agreed, excitedly messaging Mina about their new plans for the weekend. This was her first chance to go out on an actual date with Mina, instead of just hanging out in the courtyard or the library. It was what her girlfriend deserved.

Chaeyoung couldn’t help but sing along to herself as she got ready for their outing, carefully putting on some makeup in the bathroom mirror.

“You’re in a good mood,” Tzuyu observed, standing next to Chaeyoung in the bathroom as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail—she was going to work out at the school’s gym for a bit, like she did every other day. Even though she didn’t have her super strength anymore, she still wanted to be strong and fit in terms of normal human standards.

“Yup,” Chaeyoung popped her “p” as she said it, giving Tzuyu a small smile in the mirror. 

“Try not to embarrass yourself to badly,” Tzuyu teased. Chaeyoung simply rolled her eyes.

After a few more minutes, Chaeyoung wandered out into the hallway with her purse in hand. 

 

 

She found Nayeon and Mina waiting there already, standing in silence. Things were still slightly awkward between the two, but then again, they kind of always had been in the first place. Mina had forgiven Nayeon for what she’d done in the past, so there were no hard feelings. The guilt Nayeon faced had also nearly faded, as Akari’s strange disappearance had nothing to do with what she’d done weeks ago. 

After a few more minutes, Momo stumbled into the way, apologizing for her tardiness.

“Alright are we all ready to—” Nayeon stopped short, looking up at Momo’s face clearly for the first time since her girlfriend had walked out into the hallway. Momo was wearing a lot more makeup than usual and it made her look like she was almost glowing. “...oh.”

Momo couldn’t help but giggle at Nayeon’s sudden shyness. 

“You look...you look really pretty. Wow,” Nayeon murmured, staring at Momo with wide eyes. 

Momo did a little dance and smiled brightly at Nayeon. “Thank you,” she said in a small voice, and Nayeon practically fell over.

“Yes, we’re ready to go,” Chaeyoung quipped. “Let’s go, lovebirds.” Chaeyoung began to push Nayeon forward down the hallway. “And make sure you close your mouth, or you’ll catch flies.”

Nayeon quickly snapped her mouth shut and gave Chaeyoung a glare before she reached for Momo’s hand and started walking down the hallway. Mina and Chaeyoung followed after them, also hand in hand. 

The festival was about a half an hour drive, so the girls passed the time by singing along to an IU album—Nayeon plugged in her phone and put on her driving playlist, which she had made just for this occasion. Mina and Chaeyoung held on tightly in the back as Nayeon maneuvered through traffic ratherly aggressively. Momo didn’t seem to mind though, she just laughed when Nayeon got mad and yelled at the drivers around her as if they could actually hear her. 

They found a parking spot in a parking garage near the festival and all walked down to the ground level. “Alright, meet back here at—” Nayeon glanced down at her phone to check the time, “—4PM?” 

Everyone nodded. “Okay, be safe,” Nayeon waved to Chaeyoung and Mina as the two couples parted ways, headed toward opposite ends of the large festival, which encompassed a few streets which had been blocked off from car traffic. 

Once Nayeon and Momo were alone, they went from booth to booth, seeing all there was to see. They admired the handmade jewelry, wind-chimes, trinkets, painting and photography. Momo especially liked this booth that was selling cute, little animal statues. She pointed out a chubby pig and started gushing over how adorable it was, causing Nayeon to laugh.

“You’ll be graduating soon,” Momo said, out of the blue, suddenly pouty. They were standing in line to get some gelato even though they hadn’t eaten lunch yet. Gelato, Momo had assured Nayeon, was a perfectly good substitute for lunch. 

Nayeon turned to her girlfriend, smiling at the girl’s cute face. “Yes, but there’s no reason to be sad.”

“What are you going to do?” Momo asked, continuing to pout. Nayeon was tempted to poke the girl’s cheeks.

Nayeon pressed her lips together. “I’m not really sure,” Nayeon confessed. “All I know is I wanna be with you...I haven’t really thought about the rest.” 

Momo nearly softened up but caught herself and then increased her pout once again. “Nayeon, this is serious! You need to think about this, it’s important!”

“Are you trying to lecture me, Hirai Momo?” Nayeon looked stunned and then laughed, making Momo cross her arms and puff her cheeks.

“It’s cute to know you worry about me,” Nayeon reached over and pinched one of Momo’s cheeks. 

“I do...very much.”

“Well, you know, since I just got a general degree, I guess I can try to pursue anything I want. I like music...maybe I’ll be a DJ.”

“Like, on the radio?”

Nayeon nodded, smiling a bit shyly. “Do you think I can do it?”

Momo’s pout turned into a big and dopey smile, causing her eyes to squint up. “Of course you can! What kind of music would you play?”

“Popular music,” Nayeon supposed. “Lots of Taeyeon, of course. IU too.”

“Would you let me come in and watch you work? Could I be a guest on your show?” Momo smiled cutely at Nayeon and snuggled against the older girl. Nayeon made a face that suggested she was having trouble containing herself out here in public.

“You’re getting way too ahead of yourself! Besides, I still have a few months before I graduate!”

“I know, I know,” Momo murmured, nuzzling into Nayeon’s neck. She had a small smile on her face and her eyes were closed, as if she were going to fall asleep. “As long as you’re still mine, that’s all that matters.”

 

 

Mina and Chaeyoung walked hand in hand down the city street, passing by eager street vendors and other pedestrians. A few weeks after the rogue mutant incident, JYP had decided that the students should try to venture off of the school grounds a bit more. They’d take it slow and be cautious, of course, but everyone could agree that a little fresh air and a change of scenery could do them some good. Mina wouldn’t admit it but she’d been dying to get off the campus. She’d taken every opportunity to go outside and go somewhere new. Even though she’d normally rather just stay and bed in relax, she had felt extremely restless ever since Akari had disappeared. 

Although Nayeon’s driving scared Mina slightly, she was super excited when Chaeyoung had mentioned Nayeon’s offer of driving them out to the festival. Besides, Mina was intent on getting her driver’s license soon, so hopefully she wouldn’t have to rely on either Jihyo, Jeongyeon or Nayeon to drive her around all the time. Once she had her license she could take her and Chaeyoung out whenever she wanted to, and that thought was a very nice one indeed.

Chaeyoung’s attention was pulled by a particular booth with an assortment of hand-made jewelry. The girl stopped to observe it, letting go of Mina’s hand. Mina watched with a small smile on her face as Chaeyoung’s eyes lit up. Crossing her arms, Mina leaned back on her heels and told Chaeyoung she’d buy her something. Anything she wanted (with the spending money JYP had given her, in exchange for her helping in the kitchen on school grounds a few days a week). 

A strange feeling suddenly came over Mina, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. It felt as though someone were watching her. 

She turned her attention from Chaeyoung to the street behind her, bustling with energy. There was a girl, standing about ten feet away, staring at her. Mina stared back at the girl curiously, taking in her appearance. Mina’d never seen her before but there was something about her that was so familiar. Maybe it was the way she was standing, or the intensity in her eyes…

Her eyes...they looked full of something...what was it? Fondness...adoration...love, even? 

“Mina,” Chaeyoung softly replied, snapping Mina from the trance she was under. Mina turned toward her girlfriend immediately. “What do you think about this?” Chaeyoung held up a bracelet with woven beads and fabric intertwined. 

Mina opened her mouth to say something but quickly glanced back in the direction of the stranger. But, to Mina’s dismay, the girl was gone. She quickly scanned the street, looking for the girl who looked at her as if she knew her—could see right through her even—but the girl was nowhere to be found. 

Mina turned back to Chaeyoung and glanced down at the bracelet. “It’s beautiful,” she mused. It was eccentric and full of character, just like Chaeyoung herself. “Keep looking for a second, I’ll be right back.” Before Chaeyoung could ask any questions, Mina darted off in the direction the girl had been standing. She spun in a circle, trying to find the girl, but Mina didn’t see her among the moving crowd. 

After another minute of scanning the area, Mina sighed and returned back to Chaeyoung’s side. “What’s wrong?” Chaeyoung asked her.

“It’s nothing, I just thought I recognized someone.” Chaeyoung pressed her lips together, looking at Mina knowingly, but said nothing. Akari’s absence had really saddened Mina. It was mostly the not knowing why part. Things had been going well, or at least Mina had thought they were. So why had Akari suddenly left without even saying goodbye?

This was not the first time Mina had thought she’d seen Akari watching her in public. Jeongyeon and her had craved coffee while studying for an exam, so Jeongyeon had decided to drive them both out to get some caffeine and snacks. While Jeongyeon raided the convenience store for a few things, she’d sent Mina into the coffee stop next door to get them both Americanos. 

As soon as Mina walked in, staring up at the menu before stepping in line, she’d noticed a girl seated at a table by herself, staring at her. Normally Mina wouldn’t think much of it, but this girl was looking at her rather strangely and she didn’t turn away even when Mina made direct eye-contact with her. Could it be Akari in disguise, using her shapeshifting powers to hide? Mina took a breath and approached the girl, who looked up with a neutral expression on her face.

“Akari?” Mina asked quietly, holding her breath.

The girl raised her eyebrows. “Akari? No, that’s not me.”

“Oh,” Mina replied awkwardly. “I’m sorry to bother you.” 

“You’re Myoui Mina, right?” the girl asked as Mina began to turn around and walk away. Mina froze and looked at the girl curiously. 

“Yes…”

“You’re one of the girls who helped stopped that mutant from destroying the city.”

Mina was surprised someone had recognized her. It was her first time being out after the attack, but it had been a few weeks. 

“You’re the hypnotist.” 

Mina hesitated but nodded. 

“I was there that day, watching from a building,” the girl explained. “You saved me and my coworkers, so thanks for that.” The girl gave her a small smile. 

“It was nothing, really,” Mina shrugged, feeling slightly embarrassed.

“It was everything. You put your life in danger for people you’d never met.” The girl stood up abruptly. “Let me buy you your coffee, it’s the least I can do.”

Mina waved her hands and laughed nervously. “No, that’s not necessary. Thank you for the offer though—“

“—I insist! Please, it’d be my pleasure.” The girl was eying Mina intensely. Under her gaze, Mina felt a bit compelled. 

“Uh...okay. Thank you.”

The girl stood beside Mina in line. They both didn’t say anything as they got closer and closer to the front. Mina ordered two Americanos and the girl quickly gave the cashier her card. 

“Seriously, thank you so much. My friend and I are studying and wanted a pick-me-up, so this is perfect. You didn’t have to do that.”

The girl shot Mina another smile again. “I wanted to. It’s my good deed for the day.” 

Mina smiled back warmly—surprised to encounter someone so kind. Mina took a step toward the door, holding her two drinks tightly. 

“Well—” Mina started to issue an awkward goodbye but was quickly interrupted by the girl. 

“Do you think you’ll be pulling off any more heroics in the future...saving other people I mean?” she asked.

Mina bit her tongue, trying to think of an answer she could tell to this stranger, who seemed awfully interested in her. “Possibly. If the city’s in danger again, then yes.”

The girl nodded thoughtfully. “Well, I should be going now. Have a nice rest of your day, and thanks again.” The girl began walking toward the door and Mina smiled and nodded at her. 

The girl paused though before exiting the coffee shop. She looked back over her shoulder at Mina who was watching her go. “Please be careful, okay?” 

Akari. It had to be. Before Mina could respond, the girl hurriedly pushed through the door and rushed outside. Mina tried to chase after her, but it was like the girl vanished into thin air. After her studying session with Jeong, Mina reached out Chaeyoung about what happened and they decided to spend the rest of the afternoon together.

“I just don’t understand why she’s doing this,” Mina sighed. “Why won’t she come back?”

“Who knows with that girl,” Chaeyoung replied, rolling over onto her stomach and looking up at her girlfriend—they were both sprawled out on the grass, laying on a blanket in the courtyard. “I’ll never really understand what goes on in her head.”

Mina looked a bit blue, so Chaeyoung quickly sat up and leaned closer to her girlfriend. “Hey, she’ll come back when she’s ready. Maybe she just...needed a break from all this.”

“Maybe,” Mina shrugged. She began to pull on blades of grass, finding satisfaction in the sound of ripping them from the ground. “I just wish I could thank her. She did save my life, after all.”

“What did that grass ever do to you?” Chaeyoung joked, leaning her head back into Mina’s lap and staring up at the older girl. 

Mina quickly stopped what she was doing and suddenly looked self-conscious. “Sorry,” she muttered. “Nervous habit.” 

“I’m sure Akari knows you’re thankful...and I hope she knows I’m so thankful too.” Chaeyoung replied, smiling up at Mina. Chaeyoung reached up and booped Mina’s nose. Despite Mina’s heavy heart, she found it in her somewhere to smile. 

 

 

Dahyun had the room to herself, which meant it was time to blast music while she took a shower and sing along to it like the fate of the world was dependent on her hitting each and every high note. She started off with some ballads and then moved to some songs by her favorite boy groups. She really highlighted her range, and pumped out some serious dance moves as she pretended that her bottle of shampoo was a microphone. The invisible crowd cheered and she took her bows and then rinsed off the conditioner in her hair. 

Humming to herself, she thought she heard something coming from the bedroom, but the noise was so subtle that Dahyun figured she was imagining things. Chaeyoung was out on a date and Tzuyu was working out and training in the gym. Telling herself not to be too paranoid, she kicked it off with one final song, letting the hot water relax her muscles. She danced around, combining dances she’d learned from all her favorite choreographies.

There was laughter, as clear as day, loud, and then muffled. Dahyun froze and stopped singing mid verse, quickly brushing wet strands of hair out of her face. Since she was done in the shower anyway, she turned off the water and quickly wrapped a towel around herself.

The mirror in the bathroom was all fogged up, Dahyun noticed as she exited the shower. She opened the bathroom door, releasing all the hot air that had been trapped inside the room and letting in a rush of cool air. “Hey, what’s the big idea, huh?” Dahyun cried out, expecting to see either Tzuyu or Chaeyoung in the room, but it was empty. It was only her. “Oh…”

Dahyun felt stupid, rushing out of the shower for nothing. “Sheesh,” she murmured to herself. “Stupid Dahyun.” 

She walked back into the bathroom to get changed, but was slightly stunned to see the fogged over mirror had a message drawn on it. In large characters, the message read: “I love you, Dahyun. -Your secret admirer.” Below it was a heart.

Dahyun read the message with an open mouth, and it took her a moment to process everything. “Sana! How long have you been in here?” Dahyun demanded, suddenly feeling her cheeks flush with embarrassment. She heard a giggle coming from the bathroom and in a snap her girlfriend appeared directly in front of her, making Dahyun jump back. 

“Sanaaaaaaa,” Dahyun drew out the last syllable of her girlfriend’s name as she whined, causing Sana to laugh harder. After a moment Dahyun frowned and pouted, causing Sana to bat her eyes at Dahyun, looking slightly sheepish.

“I’m sorry, I came in here to scare you but you were in the shower so I stayed for a bit and listened to you put on a show.” Sana gave her girlfriend a smug grin and Dahyun groaned.

“That was a private show, meant just for my ears only!” Dahyun hugged the towel around herself more tightly. Then it dawned on her that she was standing in front of Sana only wearing a towel.

Terror. Pure terror. 

Sana seemed to sense Dahyun’s embarrassment too, because she slithered closer to the younger girl and sent her a dazzling smile. “You look cute with wet hair.” Sana reached toward Dahyun and tucked a strand of the girl’s hair behind her ear. 

“I...have to put some clothes on,” Dahyun murmured, not taking her eyes off of Sana (and noticing the girl seemed to be drifting closer and closer to her, ever so slightly). 

“I mean, you don’t have to,” Sana purred, giving Dahyun a bit of a mischievous look. The younger girl blinked twice, staring at Sana’s deadly expression with wide eyes, and then gulped. 

Long story short, Dahyun eventually let her towel drop (she couldn’t resist Sana’s almost hungry expression, after all), and Sana’s clothes ended up scattered across Dahyun’s floor, leaving a trail of breadcrumbs from the bathroom to Dahyun’s bed, where they had both ended up. 

“I don’t know how long Tzuyu will be working out,” Dahyun whispered, as Sana began to kiss Dahyun’s neck, ever so softly.

“Don’t worry, I made sure she’s preoccupied. Jihyo and her are doing something together,” Sana breathed out, and Dahyun sighed with relief. “We have the room to ourselves for a little while.”

And a little while was all they needed.

 

 

Mina was in the courtyard, studying. Midterms were coming up and she had to cram a lot of information into her head if she wanted to do well on her exams. The professors wouldn’t be going easy on her and her friends just because they’d stopped the rogue mutant, after all. Their teachers still expected their best academic performance. 

Mina had a pair of headphones in and was humming along to a pop song as she copied down some notes again and again—rewriting things helped her to memorize facts and take them in. She had her back against the tree she’d first leaned against when she’d first arrived at JYP’s school, months ago.

“Hey, mind if I join you for a minute?” 

The voice made Mina jump because she was so focused on her studying. Mina immediately pulled out both earbuds and looked up to see Chaeyoung, giggling slightly at the sight of Mina being startled. 

“You can’t just sneak up on me like that!” Mina whined, but after a moment a lazy grin broke out onto her face and she nodded.

Chaeyoung sat down beside her on the grass, staring at all of the notes she’d been taking. “Studying hard, huh?”

“Yup, just like you should be doing too,” Mina teased. “I don’t mind taking a little break though. Isn’t it so nice out today?” 

“Sure is,” Chaeyoung replied, leaning into Mina’s right shoulder slightly. After a moment, as if debating internally if she should proceed or not, she rested her head on Mina’s shoulder and the older girl hummed in response, smiling to herself.

Chaeyoung closed her eyes, as if about to drift off. Mina looked down at her girlfriend’s face and stared at it lovingly. Chaeyoung opened her eyes and caught Mina staring. Mina giggled and turned away, feeling herself blushing. 

“You’re so pretty, you know that, don’t you?” Chaeyoung whispered. She was staring at Mina intensely, who was picking at blades of grass absentmindedly. 

“Thank you,” Mina whispered back, feeling her lips pull up into a small smile. “You are too.”

“I wish I could freeze this moment and stay with you here forever,” Chaeyoung murmured, rubbing the side of her face playfully against Mina’s arm. It reminded Mina of something a cat would do, and it filled her stomach with butterflies. 

“Well, only Jeongyeon could do that,” Mina joked. Seeing that Chaeyoung looked serious though she added: “I wish I stay here with you forever, too.” Mina rested her head down against the top of Chaeyoung’s, feeling the girl’s soft hair against her forehead. 

“Mina?”

“Hm?” Mina had her eyes closed and was taking in the feeling of the warm sunlight creeping through the tree branches and touching her skin. 

“What you did a few weeks ago, trying to talk to that mutant attacking the city...”

Mina opened her eyes and lifted her head up to show she was listening to Chaeyoung’s words.

“I just wanted you to know that I thought you were so brave. You really tried your best to help her.”

“That wasn’t enough though,” Mina sighed. She tried her best not to think about this girl, but it was nearly impossible. The media had dug up her real identity, and linked the HCA directly to her. She was just a normal girl before they got a hold of her, and then they’d experimented on her until she was no longer recognizable. 

“I don’t think she had a chance of returning to normal. What they’d done to her, it was permanent.”

“Still, I hoped I could at least save someone,” Mina sounded slightly heart broken, causing Chaeyoung to lift her head off of Mina’s shoulder and look directly at her girlfriend. 

“You saved so many lives! Innocent lives. You saved Akari, too,” Chaeyoung assured.

“Did I?” Mina asked. “I guess I’d like to think so, but she’s gone now.” Chaeyoung could hear the bitterness laced in Mina’s voice. 

“I’m sure she has her reasons for leaving,” Chaeyoung replied thoughtfully. “She wouldn’t just disappear without a reason.”

“I just wish she would’ve said goodbye,” Mina whispered, with her voice shaking slightly. Her head was bowed and she continued to stare down at her notes. 

“Who knows, maybe she still will,” Chaeyoung said. She was trying to be hopeful for Mina because she couldn’t stand the sight of Mina looking so distraught. “Anyway, I should probably let you get back to studying, huh? I didn’t mean to ruin your mood, I’m sorry.”

Mina took her eyes off her notebook and faced Chaeyoung again. “You didn’t ruin my mood! I always feel better when I spend time with you.” 

Chaeyoung smiled at that, looking at Mina softly. The soft expression quickly turned into something more—it was an expression Mina wasn’t used to seeing on Chaeyoung’s face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Mina said shyly, beginning to hide her face. 

Chaeyoung took a breath, suddenly looking very shy herself. “Because...I love you.” It was all out in the open now—everything was laid bare. Chaeyoung lifted her eyes to meet Mina’s. They stared at each other for a moment until Mina lightly placed her hand on Chaeyoung’s chin and she pulled the girl’s face toward her. They kissed, and Mina could taste an almost sort of longing on Chaeyoung’s lips. There was a desperation there that Mina hadn’t felt before.

“I love you too,” Mina replied. They’d only been dating for a few weeks, but with all they’d been through, and all the time they’d spent before pining after one another, saying it out loud felt right.

Chaeyoung let out something that sounded a bit like a sniffle. She smiled widely but Mina realized that tears were beginning to well up in the girls eyes. After a moment the tears began to spill, and Chaeyoung tilted her head away from Mina, quickly trying to wipe the tears away. 

“Chaeng!” Mina exclaimed, suddenly very worried. Did I do something wrong? “Please don’t cry.” She reached a hand toward Chaeyoung but the shorter girl shook her head and scooted farther away. At the sudden and unexpected movement, Mina flinched back—eyes shining with a bit of hurt. 

“I’m sorry,” Chaeyoung said. She tried to keep wiping the tears away but they continued to flow. The shorter girl stood up, wobbling a bit in the process. “I really do love you, Mina.” Chaeyoung took a shaky breath, trying to compose herself. “God, I shouldn’t have come here...what a mess.”

“Chaeyoung...what are you talking about?” Mina asked, voice so soft it was barely audible. Chaeyoung looked down at Mina, still sitting with her back against the large birch tree, looking as beautiful as ever even with a look of confusion stretched across her face.

(God, she was so pretty. Why did she have to be so pretty?)

Chaeyoung clenched her teeth together and said nothing—feeling like a complete idiot but not being able to do anything about it (she’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry in front of Mina, not again. She hated showing any vulnerability...). 

“Chaeyoung,” Mina whispered—her voice suddenly sounded very far away. The girl was unable to look Mina in the eye. Something was wrong. The tension and strangeness of the moment was too much to bear. 

It was then that Mina realized what exactly was wrong. Pulling out of fistful of grass from the ground a bit aggressively, Mina let out a slight gasp.

“No…” Mina muttered, looking horrified. “Please don’t tell me...oh god...you’re not her, are you…?” Mina’s words seemed to die out in her throat. 

The girl began to back away from Mina slowly, looking apologetic. 

“No...don’t you dare leave,” Mina cried, immediately standing up and tossing her books aside in the process. They hit the grass with a dull thud, yet the sound was loud enough to make Mina grit her teeth. 

The girl took another step back, beginning to turn her back on Mina. Mina was practically seething, with shaking hands curling into fists at her sides. “Don’t you dare leave, not after doing that! Akari, do you hear me?” 

Another step backward, this one larger. Mina stalked forward without hesitation, looking like a wrathful angel. She stepped forward until she was only a foot away from the girl who she thought was Chaeyoung only seconds ago. Akari couldn’t bear to make eye contact with her, so instead she stared down at the grass like a dog waiting to be punished. 

Mina lifted her arm…

SMACK.

Mina slapped Akari across the face, hard.

Akari took it with a grunt. She shifted her jaw side to side, bringing a hand to her cheek as it began to sting. “Guess I deserved that,” she remarked, still looking down at the ground.

Mina’s breaths were heavy and labored as her blood continued to boil. “How could you do something like that?” Her voice was low and rough—conveying all of her emotions easily. 

“I just...wanted to see you one last time,” Akari confessed. Her usually strong voice was wavering. “I knew it was selfish and wrong, but I couldn’t help myself. I wanted to feel like I was yours, at least just once. I wanted you to look at me like you look at her.”

A wide range of emotions hit Mina all at once—sadness, anger, disbelief. Here she’d thought Chaeyoung had confessed to her, but the girl who’d said ‘I love you’ hadn’t been her girlfriend at all. And they’d kissed...she’d kissed Akari without even realizing it was really her! Mina wanted to wash her mouth out with soap. 

“Akari...why did you run away? Why didn’t you stay at the hospital and come back here with Nayeon? Especially when you...you...love me? If you really loved me you wouldn’t do something so stupid.” Even though Mina’s voice was still shaking, Akari could see that Mina’s rage was beginning to burn out—it seemed being angry took a lot of energy out of Mina.

Akari opened her mouth to spit out an excuse but Mina kept going, face turning slightly cold. “You let me think something bad might have happened to you for weeks. Weeks! I thought the HCA might have gotten you. Do you know what kind of hell you put me through, after literally sacrificing your life for me and then disappearing without a word? I didn’t even get to thank you...”

This was the first time Akari had ever heard Mina sound so upset. Akari said: “I knew I wouldn’t be able to stay here for good. I just...don’t belong here. I never will, really. I don’t like being chained down anywhere, not after being locked up for so long…”

“And then you have the nerve to pretend to be Chaeyoung and kiss me? When I’m in a relationship? Was your plan to just leave afterward without revealing your true identity? Trick me and disappear again? Keep me wondering...never knowing what happened to you?”

Akari bit her lip and looked away from Mina, unable to hold the girl’s fiery stare. “This was going to be my way of saying goodbye...but god, Mina, you make everything so difficult for me. I can’t...think straight when I’m around you.” 

Mina barked out a strange and cruel sounding laugh. She crossed her arms, pinching the skin on her left forearm in an attempt to stop herself from crying.

“Look, there’s more to it than me being an outsider. I’ve been doing so much thinking lately, and I’ve decided I want to try to make up for all the bad things I’ve done. I’m not sure how I will exactly, but I figured helping people in any way I can might be a good start, you know? I can’t ever make up for the crimes I’ve committed or the lives I’ve taken, but I wanna spend the rest of my life at least trying to.” It felt good to get it off her chest and say it out loud. She looked at Mina a bit shyly, not knowing how the younger girl would react. 

“You could do some good here, you know. That rogue mutant won’t be the last threat,” Mina replied. Her voice had softened up a bit, but she was still looking at Akari with accusatory eyes. 

“I know, but I won’t be able to do as much as I want to if I stay here. Here you’ll always have someone telling you what to do. I don’t operate well like that. I never have, actually, even when I was a kid. I can’t sit through classes and pretend to be a normal student knowing that there’s still bad people out there that need to be stopped, and I have the power to stop them.”

Mina looked at the ground and nodded. She closed her eyes briefly and then covered her face with her hands. Akari took a step toward Mina, feeling guilty and concerned, but she knew better than to get too close to Mina now. 

“I...I don’t love you, Akari,” Mina confessed, muffled through her hands. “Not like that.”

Akari swallowed and nodded. “I know, I understand. You deserve someone better than me, and you found her.”

“I still care about you though,” Mina replied, uncovering her face. “I care about you a lot. I want you to stay. Please.” Her voice was so earnest and sincere. Akari closed her eyes and took a breath, knowing she couldn’t stay much longer or else she’d let Mina get her way. After all, she was practically putty in Mina’s hands. Akari could feel herself beginning to shift because she was getting so emotional—she lost her disguise and now looked like herself again.

“You have Chaeyoung. She’s a good kid and she can take care of you. I’m happy for both of you, truly,” Akari replied. Her image was beginning to flicker—back and forth between herself and Mina. She could feel the shift morphing her body rather violently, like it couldn’t make up its mind about who it wanted to look like.

Mina looked slightly miserable, so Akari put on a smile. “Hey, you did end up saving me, right? Won’t that help you get over this a bit? You made a hero out of me, somehow.” Akari smiled at that. 

Mina didn’t smile back.

“I’ll be just fine. I can take care of myself. And who knows, maybe you’ll see me again some day.”

Mina knew she couldn’t change Akari’s mind. “Promise me...please promise me I’ll see you again.”

Akari didn’t want to make any promises, not knowing how dangerous the situations she’d be getting into would be, but she couldn’t say no to Mina. “Okay. Yes, I promise you. I still have that outfit JYP made for me, after all.” 

Mina released one of Akari’s hands and wiped her eyes. She took that same hand and lightly placed it on Akari’s face. “Thank you, for saving my life...two times now.”

“You saved me too,” Akari replied softly. “From the moment I met you. Do you remember that? The moment I saw you I knew you didn’t belong in a place like that because you hadn’t been corrupted yet. Not like me. There was still a chance for you. I knew then you’d be the death of me.”

“I nearly was,” Mina whispered, thinking about that shard of ice that had been launched straight through Akari’s chest, poking out of her back. 

“Almost, but I took back the powers I loaned you for a bit. I’ll put them to good use, don’t worry,” Akari smiled slightly. “Alright, I really should be going now. I’ve been starting to follow a trail left by the HCA...I want to make sure they’re not experimenting on anyone else.”

Mina dropped her hand from Akari’s face. “Okay. Please be careful.”

“I will, for your sake.” Akari smiled again. She looked at Mina carefully, taking in every detail of her face—the slight downward slant of her nose, her large eyes that looked like they contained a whole universe of their own within them. 

Mina stood up on her tip-toes and placed a kiss on Akari’s cheek. Akari closed her eyes and let the feeling of Mina’s lips sink in. She felt as though the kiss would forever leave a mark on her. 

“Goodbye,” Akari said. She gave Mina an encouraging smile, seeing that Mina was beginning to cry again. 

She took a few steps back, turned around, and began to run. In the blink of an eye she disappeared from the courtyard, leaving Mina alone. 

 

 

An hour later, once the sun began to set, Mina slowly dragged her feet back inside the building. Notebooks and textbooks tucked under her arm, she moved sluggishly toward her room. She felt like collapsing on her bed and going to sleep early. 

She’d made it into her bed somehow, although she couldn’t really remember walking through the halls. She snuggled under her covers and closed her eyes, feeling a few tears fall. Somewhere in between the crying and the sadness and the strange sense of relief, Mina fell asleep.

Mina didn’t tell Chaeyoung about her encounter with Akari. She figured bringing it up would only worry Chaeyoung and make the girl angry. Besides, Chaeyoung had nothing to worry about—Akari was gone. Mina hoped she’d see her friend again, maybe months, even years from now. She hoped Akari could find happiness, and forgive herself for the crimes she committed one day. But for now, Mina tried her best to focus all of her thoughts on her girlfriend. It was easier that way, to try to forget. 

Chaeyoung was Mina’s everything. The girl could brighten her mood, give her butterflies, kiss her until her knees felt weak. Chaeyoung knew about Mina’s dreams, her worries, the way she had a strange obsession with putting ketchup on almost everything. When Chaeyoung wasn’t by Mina’s side, she felt slightly restless, as if Chaeyoung always carried a part of her wherever she went. 

And Mina was ready to tell her girlfriend that, a couple weeks after saying goodbye to Akari. 

They were in Mina’s room, sitting on Mina’s bed, staring up at the ceiling. “I love you, Chaeyoung. I love you so much.” It’d taken her about 12 minutes to build up the courage to actually say it. When she’d said it before to Akari who had looked like Chaeyoung, Akari had said it first. It made things easier. Saying it first was much more difficult and scary. 

Chaeyoung felt her breath catch in her throat. Here she thought she’d be the first one to say it, not Mina. She looked at Mina—really looked at her—and saw the girl’s wide, nervous eyes on her. 

“I...love you too. So, so much.”

Mina breathed out a sigh of relief. “Really?”

“Yes,” Chaeng laughed, breaking out into a wide smile. After a moment, Mina did the same, smiling sheepishly at her girlfriend. She pulled Chaeyoung close and hugged her tightly. 

“You’re kind of crushing me,” Chaeyoung wheezed. Mina quickly released Chaeyoung and looked at the younger girl in horror.

“I’m so sorry!”

Chaeyoung’s mock-serious face quickly turned into a smile, seeing the look on Mina’s face. “It’s okay. If I’m gonna die, getting crushed by one of your hugs isn’t a bad way to go. So, you love me, huh? Is that what you’ve been waiting to say to me since I got here?” 

“What…? How did you know I had something to say?” Mina asked, looking a bit taken off guard.

“I could just feel it, in the way you were holding your breath and being all quiet. The silence was kind of deafening.” 

“I was scared…” Mina admitted. “I wasn’t sure what you would say. I didn’t think anyone could love me after what I did...most days I don’t even think I deserve love.” 

“Don’t be ridiculous!” Chaeyoung cried. “Are you talking about how you accidentally killed her best friend?”

Mina turned away from Chaeyoung and nodded. This was the first time the both of them had actually talked about it. Chaeyoung had been shocked to overhear Mina say this fact to the rogue mutant during their fight, but Chaeyoung didn’t want to bring it up until Mina was ready. 

“Mina, it was an accident, okay? You didn’t have a grasp over your powers then...a lot of mutants do things like that when they’re first gifted their powers.”

“I know…” Mina sighed. “But still...I can never undo it.”

“No, you can’t, but that’s life. I like to think everything happens for a real, you know? Like you came here for a reason...maybe we were destined to be?” Chaeyoung was smirking slightly and Mina rolled her eyes. 

“You’ve been hanging out with Sana too much,” Mina scoffed. 

Chaeyoung took one of Mina’s hands and began to tug her toward her. They collapsed together onto the bed, snuggling into one another. 

“Thank you, for being there for me all this time,” Mina whispered.

“You can always count on me,” Chaeyoung assured. 

The two girls smiled at one another—hidden smiles from the rest of the world. This moment was completely their own. 

 

 

9 girls, one team. They worked together to bring down any mutant that threatened Seoul. They were not completely welcomed by the public, but the word “mutant” stopped being a dirty one thanks to their heroics. The Mutant Registration Act was not passed, and the legislation was given up on entirely. 

Mina was right when she told Akari that the rogue mutant was just the first threat they would face. One after the other, mutants rose up trying to claim that mutants were superior to humans. World domination was their goal, but JYP would send out the team of girls to stop them. JYP’s team didn’t have to kill anyone else luckily, as none of the new villains that came about were as powerful as the first rogue mutant had been. Instead, Mina used her powers to hypnotize these mutants to sleep. The villains would awake in jail, where they belonged.

The HCA all but disappeared. There were rumors that the members still lurked in the shadows, but the discovery of their experimentation on a mutant girl, making her a weapon perfect for causing death and destruction in Seoul, completely destroyed any supporters they had in the general public. People were still scared of mutants, sure, but it was the mutants like JYP’s team that proved that not all mutants were bad people. In fact, most of them were normal people just trying to live their lives. 

The girls were labeled superheroes. They appeared in newspapers, magazines, even on Buzzfeed. They became somewhat of a social media phenomenon. Mutants had no more reason to hide, after all. Government testing on mutants was banned across the world. A reporter was let into JYP’s school, interviewing the man himself, as well as each of the girls on the “super team”. 

Dahyun revelled in the limelight, taking her newfound fame as an opportunity to become the first mutant to appear on a variety show. She had the hosts in hysterics as she duplicated herself. The episode was met with such high reviews and ratings that Dahyun was offered a small cameo in a television drama and the offers began to pile in after that. 

Eventually, JYP let other students out into the field to fight any enemies that sprang up—the girls’ classmates had been itching to get in on the action themselves. The girls were given a bit of a break, enjoying their time off from crime-fighting to focus on their social lives. Chaeyoung, being the pop-culture fanatic that she was, kept up with everything that was being said about her and her friends online. “They even are making action figures of us—action figures!”

Chaeyoung enjoyed her fame, tweeting memes 24/7 while also speaking out about mutant rights. She became a bit of a mutant activist, actually. Chaeyoung even made Mina make a twitter account, too. Mina wouldn’t admit it, but she actually loved checking twitter. She might have even checked it more often than Chaeyoung herself did. Chaeyoung decided to attend a public university for a degree in Art and Communications—the same university that Mina ended up transferring to to pursue a career as a forensic psychologist. 

On a school break, her and Chaeyoung flew to Japan to search for Mina’s parents. Turns out they were living in the same house Mina had grown up in—Mina nearly broke down when she saw her last name still displayed on the mailbox outside. Chaeyoung had felt a bit awkward about being there for the Myoui family reunion, but Mina had wanted her girlfriend there by her side. Chaeyoung’s Japanese was quite bad, considering Mina had attempted to teach her the language only a few weeks before their trip, but Chaeyoung still enjoyed herself even though she just smiled and nodded at most things Mina’s parents asked her. 

Mina’s parents had feared the worst when they didn’t hear from their daughter again—but always held out hope she’d made it to the rumored school for mutants in Korea. Imagine their happiness at seeing their daughter on the news—fighting crime. 

Even after graduating from JYP’s school with a Bachelor’s Degree, Nayeon stayed very close to JYP’s school and always went out to help her team when needed. She pursued her dream of hosting a radio show by scoring an internship at one of the pop radio stations in the area. Momo, of course, was over at her apartment nearly every weekend. 

Jeongyeon ended up getting an internship with the same pop station—much to Nayeon’s annoyance but secret delight. The two girls could continue bickering and teasing each other even at work. Jeongyeon ended up moving in with Nayeon, which meant that Momo saw a lot of them, and Wonpil too, who constantly brought over take-out for dinner. 

Sana auditioned with one of the biggest music companies in South Korea. Even though she was a bit old to be a trainee, the company saw her as a potential solo artist. A year after becoming a trainee, thanks to her positive public reception coming off the heels of her time as a “superhero,” she debuted a single which Dahyun would jam out to in her shower repeatedly for the next few weeks. 

Momo decided to pursue a career in dancing after graduating with her Bachelor's Degree, getting an audition to the same company Sana belonged to. She even performed alongside Sana and eventually went on to become a dancing instructer for the company. Much to Momo's delight, her wish to be a guest on Nayeon's radio show (that she co-hosted with Jeongyeon) eventually came true. 

Jihyo became a professor at JYP’s school after graduating, continuing to help with the security of the school as well as beginning to take over some responsibilities from JYP. Tzuyu decided to finish up her schooling on the campus despite not having her powers anymore—JYP insisted that she finished her high school education there at least. Sana even teased Tzuyu for having a relationship with a professor in the few months in between Jihyo’s graduation from college and her own graduation from high school. “Did you and Miss Park have a nice study session?” Sana would give Tzuyu a mischievous grin and Tzuyu would just roll her eyes. 

“Yes, as a matter of fact, we did,” Jihyo would reply, taking Tzuyu by the arm and embarrassing the younger girl even more. After the rogue mutant incident, Jihyo had officially asked Tzuyu out so they were now the hottest couple in the school. After graduating from high school, Tzuyu completed her college degree at Sahmyook University to become a physical therapist.

Over the course of the next few months, there were a series of “miracles” performed throughout Korea, and later Japan. The incidents involved terrible accidents—car crashes, house fires, bank robberies, but they all had one thing in common. A girl with multiple powers—teleportation and ice powers—would save the day. She always looked different, but Mina knew it was Akari, doing what she could to give back. As Mina watched a news clip of Akari putting out a fire with her ice powers, a little kid who lived in the newly rescued home walked over to Akari afterward and gave her a high-five. Seeing Akari smile, well, that made Mina smile too. 

Life certainly wasn’t perfect after everything went down with the rogue mutant and the HCA—but things were certainly better. And even after the nine friends went on to pursue their own dreams, they always would cherish the time spent at JYP’s school, which helped them to become the people they were today. Besides, they each still had their customized jumpsuit and JYP still had their numbers on speed dial, ready to call them whenever the city needed their help again.


End file.
